Goddess of Vengeance
by cleotheo
Summary: When Hermione Granger discovers she's really the daughter of The Dark Lord and that The Order of the Phoenix were behind her kidnapping as a baby and her parent's murders, she sets out to gain revenge against everyone who had wronged her. Dark Hermione!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Welcome to my new Dark Hermione story. As I always do with these stories, I want to put a warning so that people who don't like Dark Hermione know what this story entails. As I said, it's a story where Hermione is dark so if people don't like that, I politely suggest that this story isn't for them.**

 **For those who do like Dark Hermione stories, this is a pretty long one and it stands at a whopping 50 chapters. This story is a big AU with a lot of differences from the books, and a few characters alive who were dead in the books. It's also a fairly slow burning story with the majority of the action taking place over seventh year at Hogwarts and the summer leading up to it. The first few chapters deal with some back story, then we flick forward to the summer before seventh year and proceed from there.**

 **Updates will be the usual dark days of Mondays and Fridays. I hope people enjoy Goddess of Vengeance as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

* * *

In a large, darkened room a man silently cast several spells on the floor, creating a magical golden circle on the dark blue carpet. Stepping back to admire his handiwork the man known as Lord Voldemort turned to address the second man in the room.

"Well Lucius it's time, are you sure you want to go through with this?" He asked. "There's no going back once the spell is cast."

"I'm sure," Lucius Malfoy replied with a sharp nod of his head. "I can think of no greater honour than having my son bonded with your daughter."

Voldemort kept his private life separate from the rest of his life. While most people knew he was married very few people had met his wife. Even fewer people knew of his year old daughter, and apart from Lucius and his wife, Narcissa, no-one had even met her. It had only been in the last month or so that Voldemort had informed his inner circle of most trusted Death Eaters of her existence.

"Let's just hope the children agree when they're older," Voldemort said.

"I'm sure they will, Tom," Lucius said just as the double doors to the room swung open. The Malfoys and Voldemort's wife were the only people who dared to call The Dark Lord by his given name, and it was mark of how much he cared for all three of them that he allowed them to do so.

Voldemort and Lucius turned to greet the two women who had entered the room. Lucius's wife, Narcissa Malfoy, was a tall, elegant blonde woman while Voldemort's wife, Adelaide Riddle, was a petite brunette with long curly hair. Both women were carrying their children as they entered the room. Narcissa had hold of a sleeping four month old boy with a shock of white blond hair while Adelaide had hold of a squirming one year old girl with large brown eyes.

At the sight of her father the little girl in Adelaide's arms started to wriggle even more and call out for her daddy. Voldemort scooped his daughter out of his wife's hands and hugged her tightly as the four adults began discussing the upcoming ceremony. The ceremony was being held to bind the two children together for life, it meant that they would both do anything to protect the other one and that one day they would eventually marry. Both families had agreed that the bond would be beneficial to both parties as it ensured their children would always have someone who would protect and love them, not to mention the two families would be linked permanently and would become a force to be reckoned with in the wizarding world.

Voldemort was already known to be one of the darkest wizards of his time and was feared by a lot of the wizarding population. Lucius was his right hand man in private but in public he had a respectable business empire and substantial influence at The Ministry for Magic. While both men knew they already had a lot of power they felt that by combining their families they would be practically unstoppable in their pursuit of dominance over the wizarding world.

"Are we ready?" Voldemort asked, handing his daughter back to his wife.

Everyone nodded as Narcissa and Adelaide moved to place their children in the centre of the circle. Adelaide sat her daughter down and cast protective spells around her so she wouldn't fall, Narcissa did a similar thing with her son as she placed the sleeping baby beside the young girl. Once their children were safely ensconced in the circle both women returned to their respective husband's sides as the bonding ritual got under way.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Albus Dumbledore stood at the head of a crowded table, holding his arms up in the air and calling for quiet. The Order of the Phoenix were having their weekly meeting and Dumbledore was ready to begin. He had formed The Order himself as a way to fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said once the room was silent. "Tonight's meeting will just be a short one as there is only one thing to discuss. The upcoming attack against Voldemort."

"I'm still not sure attacking is the right option., Molly Weasley sighed.

"Attacking is our only option," Dumbledore said forcefully. "With the prophecy and the new information we have at our disposal we have to act now."

Nearly a year ago Dumbledore had discovered a prophecy but until recently it had made little sense to The Order. The prophecy spoke of a powerful girl, she was the spawn of the dark and brought with her wisdom and war. The Prophecy then went on to say the girl would rule the world with her dragon at her side.

The spawn of the dark immediately had The Order worrying about Voldemort procreating but until recently it was thought the dark wizard was childless. The Order knew he had a wife, even though she was rarely seen and very little was known about her but it was only in the last month that a captured Death Eater had mentioned that Voldemort was a father to a little girl named Athena.

The name of Voldemort's daughter had The Order worried as she was named after the Greek goddess of wisdom and war, both of which were mentioned in the prophecy. The discovery that Voldemort did indeed have a daughter was worrying enough for The Order but combined with an event a few months previously they were seriously worried. Four months ago one of Voldemort's most loyal supporters, Lucius Malfoy, had become a father for the first time, to a little boy named Draco. Draco was the Latin name for dragon and The Order were worried that he was the dragon spoke of in the prophecy.

"Are we sure the information is accurate?" Frank Longbottom asked. "After all, we now have our own spy in Voldemort's camp and he hasn't mentioned anything about him having a daughter."

The spy in question was Severus Snape the new Potions Professor at Hogwarts. Snape had joined Voldemort's ranks just after he left school but he had recently switched sides after his childhood friend, Lily Potter, had begged him to join The Order. Snape, who was in love with Lily and had never being able to refuse her anything had agreed to spy on Voldemort and pass information to the Order.

"Snape's useless," James Potter snorted. He wished Snape was actually present as it was so much better to insult him to his face. "I'm sure he's not important enough to know such things."

As Snape was distrusted by most of The Order, Dumbledore had agreed not to mention the current meeting to him. Dumbledore swore that Snape wouldn't try and save Voldemort and his family but he had listened the majority and not informed Snape of the meeting. He had however asked Snape to drop by headquarters later that night when the mission would hopefully be already completed.

"Or he could have chosen not to tell us," James's best friend, Sirius Black, added. "After all he is a Death Eater and probably can't be trusted."

"He can be trusted," James's wife, Lily said, sticking up for her childhood friend. Apart from Dumbledore she was the only person who genuinely trusted Snape and believed that he was on their side. "If Severus knew of the child he would have mentioned her."

"What's going to happen to the child, if she exists?" Remus Lupin, another close friend of James's asked.

"We'll have to see what happens tonight," Dumbledore said non-committedly. "But whatever happens we can't let her be raised by Voldemort, if she is she will be more evil than him and possibly more powerful."

"We can't let that happen," Arthur Weasley said, shuddering at the thought of someone more powerful and evil than Voldemort.

"We won't," Dumbledore said. "We strike tonight and wipe Voldemort from existence. James, Sirius, and Arthur you come inside with me. Remus, Frank you're going to remain outside and keep us covered. Everyone else will remain here and we'll return as quickly as possible."

A few people looked as though they wanted to argue with staying behind but Dumbledore quickly shut down any protests. Giving the men a few minutes to get prepared he arranged to meet them outside of Voldemort's house before leaving to get prepared himself.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

It was a little after midnight when the men assembled outside the large house that the Riddle family resided in.

"Is everyone ready?" Dumbledore asked and the men all nodded. "Once we're inside we head straight to the main bedroom, hopefully Voldemort will be asleep and won't see us coming."

"What about the girl?" Arthur asked.

"We deal with Voldemort and his wife first," Dumbledore said. "Then we'll decide what to do about the girl."

"Are you going to kill her?" Frank asked. He was unhappy with the entire plan but he was hoping that Dumbledore would spare the life of an innocent girl.

"I hope not," Dumbledore replied. He had a plan for the girl already in place but he was only planning on informing a select few. "Are we ready? Frank, Remus, you know what to do if trouble occurs."

"Yes, don't worry," Remus said.

"Good, let's go." Dumbledore gestured to the men who were entering the house with him and they began moving towards the property.

Dumbledore had been studying the house and its wards for months and he was confident they could slip into the property unnoticed. Sure enough after ten minutes or so Dumbledore dropped the wards long enough for the four men to enter the back of the house. Once in the house the men cast spells on themselves to keep them quiet and undetected.

With Dumbledore in the lead the men began to head to the main bedroom. Dumbledore had managed to bribe someone at the Ministry into letting him study the blueprints of the Riddle house so he knew exactly where he would find the master bedroom.

Once outside the room Dumbledore stopped as the men drew their wands and prepared to fight. They were all hoping fighting would be unnecessary but they needed to be prepared. With a nod of Dumbledore's head the men moved behind him as he slowly opened the door to the master bedroom. Tiptoeing into the bedroom the men were relived to find both Voldemort and his wife lying undisturbed and unaware of their presence.

Dumbledore raised his wand and pointed it at Voldemort while James did the same to Voldemort's wife. Taking a deep breath Dumbledore gave the signal and simultaneously the two men cast the killing curse. Both Voldemort and his wife were dead without ever having woken up.

"Now for the second part of the plan," Dumbledore said, turning to the other men once he checked the couple in the bed were really dead.

"What second part?" Arthur asked.

"The part that only you three and your wives will know about," Dumbledore said. "I'll explain properly when we return but for now I'm going to take the girl and get her somewhere safe. I want you three to make it look like Voldemort and his wife caught us and a fight broke out. As we leave we'll burn the place down and tell everyone the whole family has perished."

"Why don't you want anyone to know the girl's still alive?" James asked.

"We'll discuss it later, right now we have to make it seem like a fight is taking place," Dumbledore said, hurrying to the door. "Make it good, I'll be back soon."

As Dumbledore hurried off to find the nursery and kidnap a child, James, Sirius and Arthur began to make it appear as though a major fight had taken place.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

When Severus Snape arrived at the headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix he was surprised to find most of the Order in residence, an anxious tinge present in the atmosphere. When Lily explained what was happening Severus was outraged, he couldn't believe that Dumbledore and The Order would put an innocent woman and child in such danger.

Severus was even more appalled that even Lily thought Dumbledore's actions were justified. He was amazed that someone with a small child themselves could be comfortable with the idea of staging an ambush when a baby was in residence.

Severus was so disgusted he was just about to leave but as he turned for the doorway Dumbledore and his team arrived back. The moment the group returned the men with wives were embraced by their worried partners while questions were rapidly thrown at the group. Wanting to know exactly what had happened Severus decided to stay a while longer.

"Why don't we all sit down and I can explain what happened," Dumbledore said.

Almost immediately the room quietened down as people took their seats, eager to hear what had happened.

"First of all I'm pleased to announce the death of Voldemort." Dumbledore broke the news to a collection of cheers and celebrations. "He fought hard but in the end he was no match for us."

"What about the rest of his family?" Molly asked.

"I regret to inform you that both his wife and daughter also perished," Dumbledore announced sadly. "During the course of our fight with Voldemort he conjured a fire that got out of control, both his wife and daughter were caught in the flames and there wasn't anything we could do. Voldemort fell shortly after their deaths and we barely escaped the house alive as the fire took hold."

There were several gasps and whispers as the group took in the fact that Voldemort was gone. While the group regretted the death of an innocent little girl they couldn't regret the death of her father and the celebrations began.

As shouts and cheers rang around The Orders headquarters no-one noticed Severus slip away. The sight of The Order celebrating was sickening, he knew he had made a terrible mistake by joining the group. He'd joined thinking the group were fighting for justice and equality in the wizarding world, instead it seemed that Dumbledore just wanted Voldemort gone, at any cost apparently. The Order had attacked knowing full well that a young child was inside the house and what was worse was that none of them were overly concerned by the fact she had been killed, she was just collateral damage as far as they were concerned.

Hoping to make amends for his defection, Severus apparated to Malfoy Manor. He knew Lucius was close to Voldemort and he felt he deserved to know what had happened to his friend and his family. Severus was determined to help Lucius in whatever way necessary, if he was interested in seeking vengeance than Severus would be more than happy to help.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

In the first rays of sunlight Lucius stood amongst the rubble of Voldemort's house. He'd been shocked when he was awoken in the middle of the night to find Severus wanting to speak with him. Lucius had been even more shocked when Severus had informed him of what The Order had done that night. Immediately rushing to Voldemort's house Lucius had been devastated to find the large house ablaze and almost destroyed.

Several hours later and Lucius was finally able to search the ruins. He knew finding the bodies of his friends were remote but he had been hoping to find something so that he could arrange a proper burial for the family. So far his search had proved fruitless and even numerous spells couldn't detect any human remains in the rubble of the building.

As far as Lucius could see the only thing that had survived the fire was a magical safe box. The box was indestructible and Lucius knew that Voldemort and Adelaide used it to store all their documents, important paperwork and anything else they wanted to keep protected. Lucius himself had a similar box for all his families' treasures so he knew that it would be impossible to open the one belonging to his friend. The boxes had an extra special safety feature so that they could only be opened by the immediate family the box belonged to.

As Lucius prepared to return home he picked up the Riddle's magical safe box. Even though he knew it was useless as the entire family were dead something compelled him to take the box home with him. Lucius stored the box in his office when he returned home before he went to find his wife and son.

Finding Narcissa sitting in the front room feeding Draco, Lucius sat down next to his wife.

"Did you find anything?" Narcissa asked, hopefully. She was still hoping it was all a mistake and her friends wouldn't be dead.

"No, nothing." Lucius shook his head sadly. "I can't even find any remains, the fire must have been extremely strong."

"I still can't believe it," Narcissa sighed. "It was only last night that we performed the bonding ceremony."

At the mention of the bonding ceremony Lucius looked down at his son, he was drinking his bottle and looked perfectly happy.

"How's Draco been since last night?" Lucius asked.

"Fine. Why?" Narcissa was puzzled by her husband's sudden change of subject.

"He's bonded with Athena so now that she's dead he should be having some sort of reaction," Lucius explained, studying his son. "The ending of the bond is a painful process so Draco really shouldn't be fine."

"Well he is," Narcissa said, also studying her son. "What does that mean? Did the bond not work properly?"

"The bond worked fine," Lucius said as he removed his wand from his robes. "I just don't think it's broken."

"How is that possible?" Narcissa asked. "Athena's dead."

Lucius didn't respond as he waved his wand over Draco, who continued to drink his bottle happily. Lucius muttered a few spells over Draco and within minutes a golden glow surrounded the baby.

"The glow means the bond is still active," Lucius said to Narcissa. "Athena's alive."

"What are we going to do?" Narcissa asked, pleased that at least one member of the Riddle family had survived.

"Try and look for her. It looks like Dumbledore has taken her, he might place her with someone either in The Order or associated with them. I'll start investigating as soon as possible."

"What happens if we don't find her?" Narcissa asked, wondering what would happen to Draco if they never found Athena. With the bond still in place he wouldn't be able to get involved with another witch and would always feel incomplete as his other half wasn't by his side.

"I'm not sure," Lucius admitted. "I think if we can't find her the best we can hope for is that Draco comes into contact with her at some point and the bond activates."

"I hope we find her," Narcissa sighed, taking the empty bottle off her son. "I hate to think that Draco will spend his entire life alone."

Lucius nodded, agreeing with his wife. When he and Voldemort had discussed the bond they had assumed Draco and Athena would grow up together, they had never discussed the possibility that they could be separated and potentially go their whole lives not knowing the person that completed them.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

"What I have to say is strictly confidential and must stay between us," Dumbledore addressed the five other people in the room.

It was the day after Voldemort's demise and Dumbledore had arranged to speak to Sirius, James, Arthur, Molly and Lily. The previous night he had given James and Arthur permission to tell their wives the true story of what had happened with Voldemort's daughter, although he made them promise it would remain secret.

"As you know Voldemort's daughter is alive. No-one outside this room is aware of that fact and that's the way I intend to keep it," Dumbledore said.

"Why the big secret?" Molly asked.

"If people knew she was alive some of Voldemort's followers might try and find her," Dumbledore explained. "It's imperative that she grows up away from their influence, we don't want the prophecy coming true."

"What did you do with her?" Arthur asked.

"I took her to an old friend of mine, Richard Granger. He's a squib and his wife is a muggle," Dumbledore answered. "They're going to raise her as a muggle until it's time for her to go to Hogwarts."

"You're allowing her into Hogwarts?" Sirius exclaimed. "Surely that's too dangerous."

"Not if we do it right," Dumbledore said. "She'll end up in the same year as Harry and Ron so all we need to do is make sure she connects with the boys and becomes friendly with our group." Harry was James and Lily's son while Ron was Molly and Arthur's youngest son.

"Surely the Malfoy boy will be in the same year," Lily said. "What happens if she befriends him?"

"She won't," Dumbledore insisted. "First of all she'll already be friendly with the boys and by then you can have subtly dropped into conversation about the bad reputation of Slytherins. Secondly I've deliberately placed her with a muggle family so everyone will think she's a muggleborn, we all know the Malfoys opinions on muggleborns so there's no way their son will befriend one."

"I hope this works," Molly sighed.

"It will, with the right direction we can keep Voldemort's daughter away from the dark side and firmly on ours," Dumbledore said.

"What happens now?" Arthur asked as Dumbledore seemed to have finished speaking.

"Nothing," Dumbledore said. "Although in ten years' time we need to befriend a little muggleborn named Hermione Granger and keep her from finding out who she really is."

* * *

 **A/N - Currently fan fiction isn't alerting followers to story updates, which was what happened to my other two stories in progress when I updated them this week, so there will be a small pause in my updating. Hopefully it will be sorted soon, and I'll post some bonus chapters when this is all sorted, but until then I'm not going to update until I know all my followers are getting their notifications as half the people reading the stories will end up missing half of it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N – Sorry for the delay in updating, but as I'm sure most of you know fanfiction had a major problem with e-mail alerts not being issued for new chapters. But it now seems to be fixed, so normal updates can resume. Since I've missed two updates there will be 2 bonus chapters posted on the next 2 Wednesdays.**

 **I know a few people have said that to post a fifty chapter story only twice a week will take months to complete, but there is a reason I'm not posting any faster. As regular readers will know I only post stories that I have already finished, or are rapidly reaching the end of. It's so that when people read my stories they know that they're going to get a full story as I know from experience there's nothing worse than to be reading a story that just gets abandoned. However, for me to do this it means I need to keep finishing stories and at the moment my finished stories are lacking slightly. In fact, this is the last completed dark story I've got.**

 **To be honest for the last couple of years, my Children of the Dark series has been my priority and that ended up much longer than I ever imagined when I started it. As a result, I haven't finished as many stories as I normally would have, so I need to finish some. That's why I'm only posting a couple of chapters a week, to give myself some breathing space to finish some of the many stories I've got started.**

 **I could publish quicker, but then there would be a few months delay with no stories before I could post again, so I personally felt it was better to publish a story slowly so that when it's finished, I'll be ready with something new. That being said, once I've started to build up my finished stories again, there's a good chance updates will become more frequent. But until then, people will just have to make do with 2 chapters of Goddess a week (not counting the 2 bonus chapters over the next couple of weeks).**

* * *

 **Ten Years Later.**

"Hermione, come downstairs please," Jean Granger shouted up the stairs to her eleven year old daughter.

Within minutes a small brunette girl with wild curly hair appeared at the top of the stairs. Quickly she ran down the stairs, eager to see what her mother wanted. Hermione stopped in front of her mother and Jean tried to smarten Hermione's hair slightly.

"Come on, there's someone here to see you," Jean said, giving up on trying to control Hermione's wild curls.

Jean led Hermione into the front room where Hermione's father, Richard, was sitting talking to an odd looking old man with long white hair and a long white beard. The old man was also dressed peculiarly, he was wearing long blue robes that reached his feet.

"Hermione, this is Professor Dumbledore," Richard said to his daughter. "He's here to speak to you about school."

"Hello, Miss Granger, it's a pleasure to meet you," Dumbledore said, smiling at the young girl. He hadn't seen Hermione since the night he dropped her off with the Grangers and he was curious as to what sort of girl she had grown into.

"Hello, sir," Hermione replied politely.

Dumbledore smiled at Hermione's manners and gestured for the young girl to sit beside him. Hermione hesitated and looked at her parents, when her father nodded and smiled reassuringly she sat down on the sofa next to Dumbledore.

"This is for you." Dumbledore handed Hermione an envelope addressed to her. The writing on the envelope was emerald green and the handwriting was extremely neat and tidy.

Hermione opened the letter and began to read, her eyes widening as she tried to understand what she was reading. Hermione read the letter twice and still not understanding it she turned to the odd man sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand," Hermione said quietly. She hated not understanding something but the letter she had read made no sense, it just rambled on about magic and a magical school she was apparently accepted at.

"You're a witch, Hermione," Dumbledore explained. "I'm headmaster at Hogwarts, It's a special school where young witches and wizards come to learn magic and how to control it."

"Magic isn't real," Hermione said with a shake of her head. She was a pretty practical person and she knew magic was a thing of fantasy.

Dumbledore chuckled softly and reached into the robes he was wearing. Pulling out a long wooden stick he pointed it at a candle that was sitting in the centre of the coffee table. With a flick of his wrist the candle began to rise off the table, hovering in mid-air for a few minutes before it returned to where it had been sitting.

Hermione gaped at the sight she had just witnessed. Picking the candle up she examined it for any sign it had been tampered with and the old man was merely playing tricks on her. Finding the candle looked normal Hermione put it down and turned to face the man beside her.

"Do you want another example?" Dumbledore asked.

Hermione nodded and Dumbledore once again raised his wand. This time he spoke a few words and a teacup from the kitchen came flying into the room, landing on his outstretched hand.

"So you're saying, that I can do stuff like that," Hermione said, staring at the cup on Dumbledore's hand.

"Yes, with a bit of practice," Dumbledore replied with a nod, placing the cup he was holding on the coffee table. "That's what coming to Hogwarts will help you with. By the time you finish school in seven years you'll be a fully qualified witch. I'm willing to bet you'll be quite a good one as well."

"Where did my magic come from? And how do you even know I have magic?" Hermione questioned. She was still sceptical about the whole having magic thing.

"Those are two very long questions to answer, so I'll give you the short version," Dumbledore said. "Every child in the country who is born with magic is recorded by a magical quill and parchment at Hogwarts. Every year I receive a list of children eligible to start school, your name was on my list this year."

"That doesn't explain where my magic comes from," Hermione said. "No-one else in my family does magic."

"Not everyone who has magic comes from a magical family. You will find a lot of people who have magic do have magical parents but sometimes a muggle child is born with magic. No-one knows what causes that particular child to be born with magic, they just are."

"What does muggle mean?" Hermione asked, immediately focusing on the one word she didn't understand.

"A muggle is what us magical folk call people without magic." Dumbledore explained.

"Like mum and dad?" Hermione questioned, looking at her parents for the first time since this odd discussion started to take place.

"Yes, exactly," Dumbledore answered.

"So now Hermione's a witch, what happens now?" Richard asked, playing the part of a confused muggle perfectly.

"There's a place for her at Hogwarts," Dumbledore answered before turning back to Hermione. "If she wants it, that is."

"Yes, please." Hermione nodded eagerly before turning to her parents. "Please can I go, I want to learn magic."

"Of course you can go, dear," Jean smiled. "Where is this school?" She asked Dumbledore.

"It's a boarding school and its exact location is a secret I'm afraid," Dumbledore said. "Our school train, The Hogwarts Express, leaves from Kings Cross Station on September the first. The Hogwarts Express brings students to and from school at the start and end of every term."

Hermione looked unsure about going to a boarding school, she often found it difficult to make friends and wasn't sure if she would like to be away from home for weeks on end. However the prospect of learning magic was a tempting one, maybe she would even fit in better at a school where everyone was the same.

"I have a list of supplies you'll need to acquire before the start of term," Dumbledore announced, producing a second letter and handing it to Hermione's parents.

"Where are we supposed to get stuff like this?" Jean asked, reading the list of odd requirements. "I don't know anywhere that sells this stuff."

"The best place is Diagon Alley, a wizarding street in London," Dumbledore said. "I can meet you next week and introduce you to two other wizarding couples, they both have children starting Hogwarts in September. I'm sure they'd be delighted to help you find your way around the wizarding world."

"Thank you, we'd appreciate that," Richard said.

Dumbledore arranged a meeting place and time with the Grangers before standing up and thanking them for listening to him. Turning to Hermione he removed a thick book from his robes and handed it to her.

"This is for you Miss Granger," Dumbledore said. "You can read up on what will be your home for the next seven years."

Hermione looked at the heavy book in her arms. Hogwarts: A History was printed across the front in elegant script. "Thank you," she beamed at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled back before heading to the front door with the Grangers. By the time Richard and Jean returned to the front room Hermione had opened the book and was excitedly reading all about her new school.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Sitting in The Leaky Cauldron, The Potters and The Weasleys anxiously awaited the arrival of Dumbledore and The Grangers. On Dumbledore's instructions both couples had their sons with them, Arthur and Molly had left the rest of their children at home with a babysitter. Harry and Ron were present as Dumbledore was hoping the three children would strike up a friendship before school even started.

"Here they come," Lily announced, spotting Dumbledore entering the pub.

The Potters and The Weasleys watched as Dumbledore approached with a couple and a young girl. All of their attention was focused on the girl, each adult trying to spot anything of Voldemort in her.

"Here we are," Dumbledore announced. "Richard and Jean Granger, these are the two families I was telling you about. James and Lily Potter with their son, Harry, and Arthur and Molly Weasley with their son, Ron."

As the adults introduced themselves and got acquainted Hermione found herself standing in front of two boys that seemed to be around her age. One boy had bright red hair and a mess of freckles while the other boy had messy jet black hair and wore glasses.

"Hi, I'm Harry. This is Ron," the boy with black hair said, introducing himself and his friend.

"Hi, I'm Hermione," Hermione smiled. The two boys seemed friendly enough so hopefully she would soon have her first magical friends.

"Are you starting Hogwarts as well?" Ron asked. "It's our first year coming up."

"Yes," Hermione answered. "Professor Dumbledore said your families could help us with our shopping as we've never been here before."

"Mum and Dad said we were helping a muggleborn today," Harry said, grinning widely at Hermione. "Don't worry, Hermione, Ron and I can answer all your questions."

Ron nodded eagerly and Hermione got the impression the redhead was looking forward to imparting his knowledge to someone who didn't have a clue about the world he had grown up in.

"Come on, you three," Lily called, interrupting the three children. "We're starting at Gringotts."

Hermione noticed that Professor Dumbledore had already left, leaving The Granger family in the care of the two wizarding families.

"What's Gringotts?" Hermione asked as she, Harry and Ron followed their parents through the pub and into the back yard.

"The wizarding bank," Harry explained as they stopped beside a brick wall.

"It's run by goblins," Ron added.

Hermione barely had time to react to the fact goblins were real when the wall in front of them opened up into an archway and she found herself herded through the gateway into a bustling street. As the families set off along the crowded pavements Hermione gazed at all the unusual sights she was witnessing. Most of the people were wearing odd looking robes while all the shops carried peculiar looking stock.

As they were walking Harry and Ron pointed out the large golden building on the corner as Gringotts, their destination. Harry and Ron continued to tell Hermione all about the bank until they entered the large marble building. Hermione's mouth dropped open at the sight of the goblins running the bank, trying not to stare she followed closely behind her parents as they joined the queue to be served.

Molly and Lily stayed with The Grangers as they exchanged some money while both James and Arthur paid visits to their own vaults to withdraw their own money. Harry and Ron accompanied their fathers so Hermione was left with her parents and her new found friends mothers.

"Are you all right, dear?" Hermione realised she had dropped behind her parents and was staring at the goblins as Lily spoke to her.

"Yes," Hermione said as she nodded her head. "It's just all so amazing."

"I know what you mean," Lily chuckled softly. "I can remember my first trip to Diagon Alley just before my first year. It took hours to do our shopping as I was so interested in everything I saw."

"Are you a muggleborn as well?" Hermione asked, hoping she hadn't just offended Harry's mother.

"Yes, so I understand how overwhelming it can be, seeing everything for the first time," Lily said. "Although wait until you get to Hogwarts, that place is truly amazing."

Lily carried on telling Hermione about her own experiences while everyone finished at the bank. Once the group was reunited it was decided that the men would go and buy the books and other school supplies while the women would take the three children for their wands and robes.

Ollivanders, for their wands, was the first stop. Mr Ollivander, the wand maker, greeted Molly and Lily personally when they entered the shop. Harry was first up and it only took two attempts for him to find the wand best suited for him. Ron was next and finding his wand took nearly half an hour and almost a dozen wands before he found his match.

When it was her turn Hermione stepped up to the counter nervously. Mr Ollivander gave her a small smile as he placed a wand in her hand. Hermione waved the wand and a nearby glass vase shattered.

"Sorry," Hermione apologised, hurriedly putting down the wand.

"It's fine," Mr Ollivander smiled, fixing the vase with his own wand.

Hermione tried three more wands, all with similar results. The next four wands she tried did nothing at all and she was starting to get worried that Dumbledore had made a mistake and she didn't have magic after all. After the fourth wand that did nothing Mr Ollivander paused for several minutes, trying to decide what wand to try next.

"I wonder," he mused, shuffling off to the back of his shop.

As he was thinking Mr Ollivander remembered an identical problem he had faced the previous day. The young Malfoy boy had been in to buy his wand the previous afternoon and his magic had reacted exactly the same way as the Granger girl. Several wands didn't respond at all and the ones that did resulted in things getting blown up. Acting on a strong hunch, Mr Ollivander had given the Malfoy boy one of his newer wands to try. The particular wand he had given him was one of a pair, the cores were Golden Eagle feathers from a pair of birds that had mated for life.

Retrieving the other wand in his set Mr Ollivander hurried back to the nervous young girl in the front of his shop. As soon as Hermione had the piece of wood in her hand the whole room knew she had found her wand as nothing exploded when she tried it, instead a vase slid happily along the shelf and back again as Hermione waved the wand from side to side.

"Congratulations, Miss Granger," Mr Ollivander said. "You've found your wand."

Hermione turned and grinned at her new friends, who both grinned back. As their mothers were settling the bills, Hermione tucked her wand safely into her mother's bag before heading over to where Harry and Ron were sitting.

"I can't believe we've got our own wands," Ron grinned excitedly. With five older brother's he had been wanting his own wand for years as he had jealously watched them doing magic.

"I wonder if we can get new brooms as well," Harry mused.

"That would be so cool," Ron sighed, imagining him and Harry flying around Hogwarts on new brooms.

Hermione was confused by the mention of brooms so as the group made their way towards Madam Malkins for their robes, Harry and Ron explained about flying and Quidditch. Hermione listened as the two boys excitedly described Quidditch, it sounded downright dangerous to her but she wasn't planning on telling her new friends that.

In Madam Malkins all three got measured for their robes then they ended up sitting on the chairs talking as their mothers took over the picking of the robes, Molly and Lily advising Jean on what to pick.

"So Hermione, what house are you hoping to be sorted into?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "I've read about them all and they all have some good qualities and sound interesting."

"All apart from Slytherin," Ron sneered. "I don't know why they don't get rid of that house, all it does is create bad wizards."

When Harry agreed with Ron, Hermione found herself sitting quietly. Of all the houses it had actually been Slytherin that had called to her the most. She knew from reading her book that she would never be sorted into Slytherin, the house never accepted muggleborns as it valued blood purity. Even though she knew she would never be in Slytherin, Hermione had read all about the house, the fact it's common room and dormitories were located under a lake was fascinating to Hermione.

"Maybe we'll all be in the same house that would be cool," Ron said, bringing Hermione back to the present.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Harry agreed. "What about you Hermione?"

Hermione looked at the two boys looking at her expectedly. Suddenly the idea of being in the same house as her new friends seemed much more appealing than being in Slytherin. "That would be great," she beamed.

"Let's all hope we end up in Gryffindor then," Harry said with a laugh.

"Why Gryffindor?" Hermione asked. She understood why Slytherin was out of the equation but she didn't know why Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had been excluded.

"First of all there's no way I'm clever enough for Ravenclaw," Ron said, blushing at his admission. "And secondly, all my family are Gryffindors as are Harry's."

"Does that affect what house you end up in?" Hermione asked, she could never remember reading anything about family members always ending up in the same house.

"Not always," Harry said. "Most people do end up in the same house as their families but some don't. My godfather, Sirius, is a perfect example of that. His entire family were in Slytherin but he was in Gryffindor."

The conversation about houses went on for another five minutes until their mothers had finished in the robe shop.

"Come on," Molly said, shooing the children out of Madam Malkins. "We'll meet up with the men, then we can all go for lunch somewhere nice."

Molly, Lily and Jean led the way as the group headed for the place they were meeting the men. Once the group was all together again they set off to have lunch. Walking in between a laughing and chattering Harry and Ron, Hermione was thrilled that she had finally found her place in life.


	3. Chapter 3

The morning of September the first found The Grangers, Potters and Weasleys all assembled on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. In the few weeks since meeting at Diagon Alley the families had become firm friends and Hermione now knew plenty about the wizarding world.

"It's nearly eleven, you lot better get aboard," Molly said, trying to organise the mass of children around her.

The three older Weasley children, Percy, Fred and George, all quickly said their goodbyes and hurried off onto the train. Hermione, Ron and Harry however took a few extra minutes to say goodbye to their parents before boarding the red engine.

Once the train had begun its journey the trio found an empty compartment and settled down. Hermione got out one of her text books and began reading while the boys played a game of exploding snap.

Halfway through the journey Hermione left the boys for a few minutes as she used the bathroom. On her way back to the compartment she spotted two large boys standing outside what she thought was the carriage she was sharing with Harry and Ron. As Hermione drew nearer she spotted a small blond boy standing in-between the two larger boys. By this point Hermione was certain they were at her compartment but before she arrived the blond boy turned and headed in the opposite direction, the other two boys trailing after him.

Arriving at the compartment Hermione entered to find a furious looking Ron, glaring at the doorway.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, settling back down in her seat. "Who were those boys I saw leaving?"

"That was Malfoy," Ron spat.

Hermione looked at Harry in confusion, the name meant nothing to her but clearly it did to both him and Ron.

"Draco Malfoy, he's a pureblood wizard, most likely to be sorted into Slytherin," Harry explained.

"So what happened?" Hermione asked. She'd already figured out that her new friends and their families were anti Slytherin so she knew it was entirely possible that their problem with the Malfoy boy was the fact he had Slytherin connections.

"He came in and started making digs at my family," Ron snarled. "Just because his family's rich and live in a large manor he thinks he's better than everyone else."

"So you already knew him," Hermione said, thinking there was some history between Ron and the Malfoy boy.

"No, that was the first time we met," Ron admitted. "Of course I know all about his rotten family and obviously his father had told him a pack of lies regarding mine."

"I'm confused. If you've never met why are you fighting already?" Hermione sighed, not really understanding where all the hostility was coming from.

"We're fighting because he's a Malfoy and all Malfoys are pure evil," Ron snapped.

"Ron don't shout at Hermione, she doesn't understand like we do," Harry scolded his friend as he spotted the hurt look on Hermione's face when Ron had yelled.

"Sorry, Hermione., Ron said sheepishly. "I sometimes forget you don't know all the bad things that happened in the past."

"What bad things?" Hermione questioned.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, wondering if they should tell Hermione the story. All their lives they had heard how their parents helped defeat one of the darkest wizards of their time so really they saw no reason why they shouldn't tell Hermione all they knew.

"A while ago there was a dark wizard, Lord Voldemort," Harry began, telling Hermione about the war in the wizarding world. "He was a Slytherin and believed that only pure bloods should practice magic. He had a band of followers that regularly attacked the wizarding world as they tried to cleanse it of muggleborns."

"What does that have to do with the Malfoy boy?" Hermione asked.

"His father was one of Voldemort's followers," Ron said. "Not that it was ever proved as the Malfoys have a lot of money and influence. Dad always says that Lucius Malfoy bought the Ministry off so he got away with his crimes."

"So what happened to this Voldemort bloke?" Hermione asked.

"He was killed," Harry said. "Dumbledore gathered a band of witches and wizards who wanted to fight against him and his ideas, it was called The Order of the Phoenix. My parents and Ron's were all part of the Order."

"One night Dumbledore took his most trusted group of Order members and ambushed Voldemort," Ron said, taking over from Harry as he was eager to get involved in the story. "There was a massive fight and Dumbledore managed to kill Voldemort."

Ron and Harry repeated the story they had been told from childhood. No-one outside the Order knew that Voldemort's wife and child were present during his defeat and over the years the story had been embellished so much that Dumbledore came out of the story as the brilliant wizard who managed to save the wizarding world from the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort.

"Dumbledore's a hero in our world," Harry said. "If it wasn't for him who knows what would have happened."

Hermione nodded as the boys continued to talk about how great Dumbledore was. Hermione didn't know what it was but something about the story had upset her, causing her to become uncomfortable listening to the boys bragging about Dumbledore's victory. After a few minutes Hermione suggested they play exploding snap, she was desperate for them to stop talking about evil wizards and what had happened in the past.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Dumbledore sat in his office, The Sorting Hat already on his desk in preparation of that night's sorting ceremony. Dumbledore had just placed an enchantment on the hat so that he could listen to what it was saying when it was on each students head. He had also placed an additional spell on the hat so that he could influence the choice of the hat, if needed.

Dumbledore had performed both spells with one student in mind, Hermione Granger. He knew that the moment the hat sat on Hermione's head that it would sense her true family. The last thing he wanted was for the hat to mention her Slytherin ancestors or to place her in that house. Dumbledore had already decided that Hermione would be placed in Gryffindor, alongside Harry and Ron. He wasn't worried about either boy being placed in a different house as both had strong connections with Gryffindor and both wanted to be in that particular house.

Dumbledore knew that Hermione didn't necessarily need to be in Gryffindor to keep her friendship with Harry and Ron going, but he figured it would be easier for the three to remain friends if they were all in the same house. So far Dumbledore was thrilled with how his plan was working, Hermione had hit it off with the boys and already she was being subtly influenced over who to trust. Dumbledore knew that most of the Order were very anti Slytherin and extremely open about it, so Hermione had already been exposed to their opinions regarding the house of snakes.

The only thing worrying Dumbledore was the presence of Draco Malfoy in the school. Earlier in the summer he had been elated to hear that Lucius Malfoy was looking into sending his son to Durmstrang Institute for his schooling. Thinking that Draco was going to be educated miles away was a huge relief to Dumbledore and he momentarily stopped worrying about having to keep him and Hermione apart.

Dumbledore's relief was short lived as a few days earlier he had received the official list of students that would be attending Hogwarts, on the list was the name Draco Malfoy. Wanting to know why Draco wasn't attending Durmstrang, Dumbledore flooed the headmaster of the Institute, Igor Karkaroff. Karkaroff was an old friend of Lucius's and he explained to Dumbledore that he would have been thrilled to have Draco at his school but in the end Narcissa Malfoy had objected to her son traveling so far away from home.

Dumbledore was disappointed with the news but was hopeful that Hermione's new found friendship with Harry and Ron would keep her away from Draco. It was no secret that Lucius didn't like any family that had anything to do with the Order so hopefully he had passed that onto his son. Dumbledore was confident that Lucius's prejudices combined with the natural Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry would ensure nothing ever developed between Hermione and Draco.

The sounds of carriages outside the school brought Dumbledore back to the present. Standing up he looked out the window, confirming that the first batch of students were arriving. Picking up The Sorting Hat, Dumbledore exited his office and made his way down to The Great Hall for the start of term feast.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Hermione stood nervously beside Ron and Harry as they waited to be sorted. All three were still in awe at their surroundings and Hermione was still glancing around the large hall. As Hermione looked round the hall she suddenly spotted Dumbledore watching her. Dumbledore gave Hermione a reassuring smile that settled her nerves just as her name was called.

Hermione cautiously made her way up towards the stage. Sitting on the stool Professor McGonagall put the old raggedy hat on her head and almost at once Hermione heard a voice in her head.

"Interesting, very interesting," the hat mumbled. "So much potential and a large thirst for knowledge. Ravenclaw could be perfect for you, you're certainly bright enough. Then of course there's always your natural home in..."

Hermione frowned when the hat suddenly went quiet mid sentence. She was quite pleased that the hat thought she was clever enough for Ravenclaw but she was curious as to where the hat considered her natural home to be. Hermione was just wondering if the hat was broken when suddenly it spoke again, only this time it spoke loudly for the whole hall to hear.

"Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table broke into cheers as Hermione made her way to her new house table. Hermione was thrilled to be in Gryffindor, she was even more thrilled when both Harry and Ron joined her at the table once they were sorted. Despite her joy at being with her friends, Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that the hat wasn't intending on putting her in Gryffindor.

Despite knowing it was stupid Hermione found herself looking at the Slytherin table on numerous occasions, she knew her muggleborn status would have prevented her from being sorted into Slytherin but she couldn't help but feel a pull to the green and silver table across the hall.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Hermione cursed silently as she rushed along a quiet corridor, she'd only been in school for two days and already she had gotten lost. Most of the time she was with Harry and Ron and between them the three of them were managing to find their way round quite well but today Hermione had spent her break in the library and she had told her friends that she would meet them in Transfiguration.

Hermione was so busy trying to figure out the best way to go she failed to notice the boy heading in her direction, until they collided and ended up on the floor.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there," Hermione apologised, rubbing her head where she had banged it slightly.

"It's my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going," the boy replied as he stood up and brushed his robes off.

Hermione was still on the floor when a small, pale hand was offered to her. Grateful for the help Hermione grabbed the hand and felt a sharp tug in her torso. Looking up in surprise she noticed the green and silver emblem on the black robes of the boy she had bumped into. Instinctively Hermione knew who the boy helping her up was and when she finally looked up properly she wasn't the slightest bit surprised to find herself looking at Draco Malfoy.

Over the past few days Hermione had seen Malfoy from a distance but she had never been this close to him. She knew Ron and Harry had already had a couple of run-ins with the blond Slytherin and his two bodyguard's, Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione however could see no sign of the evil boy her friends reckoned Malfoy was, instead he seemed just as shaken as her by whatever had happened when they touched.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen.

"I'm fine," Hermione replied, standing up and brushing herself off.

As Hermione was brushing herself off Draco had gathered her belongings and when she looked up she found the blond Slytherin holding out her bag.

"Thank you," Hermione said, taking the bag.

"You're welcome," Draco replied.

For a minute they both stared at each other, before a shout nearby broke whatever trance they were in. Quickly they both made their excuses and headed off in opposite directions.

As Hermione finally arrived in Transfiguration, seconds before the bell went signalling the start of the lesson, she couldn't help but think about her encounter with Draco. Firstly he seemed nothing like Harry and Ron said he was, then there was the odd sensation she had felt when they had touched. As strange as it sounded Hermione had come away from the encounter feeling as though she had found something she didn't even know she was missing.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N – This is the first of the promised bonus chapters, and the story now jumps forward to the summer before seventh year. This chapter offers an explanation for the missing years, but I chose to skip forward as the main point of this story is Hermione's vengeance and if I'd covered every year from her starting school the story would have been ridiculously long and people would have lost interest long before we got to the main plot of the story, and to be honest I'm not sure I ever would have even managed to finish the story if I'd gone down that route.**

* * *

 **Six Years Later.**

Draco Malfoy looked around his large bedroom, checking that everything he considered important was packed neatly into his trunk. Draco knew that by the end of the day there was a strong possibility that he would never set foot inside his bedroom again, in all likelihood he would be disinherited. Draco had been mentally preparing himself for this day for years, the day he introduced his parents to his muggleborn girlfriend - Hermione Granger.

Draco had never intended to get involved with a muggleborn, after all he had been raised to consider them as a blight on the wizarding world. Hermione however was different, right from the first time they had met Draco had felt a connection with the witch. Six years later and Draco could still remember the incident as clearly as it had happened yesterday.

Two days into his first year and Draco had been heading to the library, rounding a corner he had bumped into Hermione and the pair of them had ended up on the floor. As Draco stood up and brushed himself off he opened his mouth to make some scathing remark to the girl that knocked him off his feet but instead when he spoke he found himself taking the blame for the accident. Draco then amazed himself even further when he offered his hand to help Hermione up.

The moment Hermione grabbed onto his hand Draco had felt a sharp tug in his stomach. The way Hermione shot her head up it was clear she also felt the unusual feeling that the pair of them touching had produced. By the time Draco and Hermione parted a few minutes later Draco was left with the odd feeling that he had just found something important, though he had no idea what.

Before the incident in the hallway Draco hadn't paid much attention to Hermione. He'd recognised her as a Gryffindor that was friends with Potter and Weasley, but other than that Draco knew nothing about her. After the incident Draco paid a lot more attention and found that Hermione was extremely bright and could master most spells incredibly quickly. Unfortunately Draco also discovered that she was a muggleborn and until the summer before starting school she known nothing of the wizarding world.

Draco was pretty upset to discover Hermione's heritage. In the weeks following their first meeting he had found himself drawn to the brunette witch and had been hoping they could strike up a friendship, despite being in opposing houses. The fact that Hermione was a muggleborn however had scuppered that hope, Draco knew his father would never tolerate him being friends with a muggleborn. Knowing that friendship was out of the question Draco tried to forget about Hermione and ignore the odd pull he felt towards her.

For the rest of first year Draco managed to do a pretty good job of pretending Hermione didn't exist, although he did occasionally find himself staring at the brunette witch and twice he had to stop himself from approaching her when she was alone in the library. What was harder to ignore however was the unusual pull he felt towards Hermione, by the end of the year Draco had become so accustomed to the feeling that he could use it to determine whether Hermione was in close proximity.

During the summer between his first and second year Draco debated asking his father about what he was feeling, once he was back at the manor for summer there were days when Draco felt lost and incomplete. However the fact that it was a muggleborn producing these odd sensations in him, meant Draco eventually decided not to speak to Lucius. The possibility of his father finding out he had feelings for a muggleborn was far more worrying than any curiosity Draco felt regarding the pull he felt to Hermione.

By the end of summer Draco was hoping that when school resumed he would have forgotten about the Gryffindor. However a trip to Diagon Alley the week before school proved that the connection with Hermione was still very much present. Draco was in Flourish and Blotts when he suddenly became aware of Hermione's presence in the shop. It took Draco a few minutes to find the brunette and when he did locate her, he covertly watched her browsing the shelves for over half an hour.

After the incident in Diagon Alley Draco decided he need a distraction when he returned to school. He knew that without something to occupy his time he would snap and talk to Hermione, despite knowing how badly his father would react. It was while searching for a suitable distraction that Draco decided to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team.

When Draco was awarded the position of seeker he was thrilled, he would had preferred to be a chaser but the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint had promised Draco that they would talk about him switching roles the following year if he proved himself. When Draco informed his father of the news Lucius was so pleased he bought the entire Slytherin team new brooms as a celebration.

Ironically it was Draco's quest for a distraction that finally brought him and Hermione together. At the first Quidditch practice of the season Flint had deliberately gone to Snape to get hold of the pitch at a time when he knew Gryffindor would be about to practice. Rivalry between the two houses was fierce and Flint couldn't resist showing off their new brooms and new look team to Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor captain.

What started off as the two rival teams arguing soon escalated when Weasley and Hermione joined the action. Once Hermione was present Draco tried his hardest to ignore her but that proved impossible when she insinuated that he had bought his way onto the team. Draco was taken aback by her insult, while he expected things like that coming from Potter and Weasley he hadn't expected it from Hermione. Unlike her friends she didn't seem to hate him and Draco had caught her watching him more than once since their first encounter.

What Draco said next still haunted him years later and still produced guilty feelings in him. Draco had known that there was no way he could sit back and let Hermione insult him without losing face amongst the other Slytherins so without thinking he called her a mudblood. Draco wasn't even sure she would know what the insult meant but when her eyes immediately filled with tears and she rushed off he knew she had understood exactly what he had called her.

The following few minutes were actually a bit of a blur to Draco. Potter, Weasley and the rest of the Gryffindor team all reacted furiously and within seconds there was a full on fight happening between the two groups of boys. Most people came away from the altercation with bruises and cuts, Draco himself had a split lip while both Potter and Weasley had black eyes.

When everyone parted to receive medical treatment Draco had slipped away and gone in search of Hermione. The split lip and the couple of punches he had received hadn't really registered with Draco, he was far more concerned about the awful feeling he had being suffering from since he had insulted Hermione. The minute Draco called Hermione a mudblood and her pretty brown eyes filled with tears he had felt an acute pain in his torso.

Draco eventually found Hermione sitting in a quiet corner of the library. When he first sat down she refused to even look at him but Draco was undeterred and apologised anyway. As he was apologising Draco tried to ignore the fact his father would be furious if he ever found out, instead he concentrated on the fact the pain in his torso was lessening as he tried to make amends with Hermione. Hermione was sceptical of his apology but Draco promised he would show her he meant it.

For the next two weeks Draco showed up at the library and sat with Hermione, each day apologising again until she finally accepted it. By the time Hermione accepted his apology Draco was enjoying spending an hour or so every night with Hermione so he carried on visiting the library each day. Slowly the pair of them started talking and discovered they actually got on really well.

Without even discussing it neither Draco nor Hermione mentioned their new found friendship to anyone. Hermione's friends hated Slytherins and would never accept she could be friends with one while Draco's father would be livid if he ever discovered the friendship. For the rest of the year Draco and Hermione continued to meet up in secret and by the end of the year both were upset that they wouldn't see each other for months.

The summer between second and third year Draco felt Hermione's absence more acutely. The pull he felt towards her had only strengthened as they started to spend time together and when they were separated Draco felt as though half of him was missing.

Once third year started Draco and Hermione fell into their regular pattern of meeting in the library. Their friendship grew steadily and before long Draco considered Hermione to be his best friend. As the year wore on they even began meeting up outside of the library, although they were always careful to avoid being seen together.

By the start of fourth year Draco was beginning to think that he was starting to develop romantic feelings for Hermione. He'd always hated seeing her with Potter and Weasley, although most of that was because he didn't like either boy and often worried that they were taking advantage of Hermione's good nature by getting her to practically do their homework for them. But lately his feelings felt more like jealously when he watched Hermione with other boys.

A few weeks before fourth year started Draco had attended the final of the Quidditch World Cup with his parents and Hermione had also been there with the Potters and Weasleys. Being so close to Hermione with his parents so near was torture for Draco, he spent the entire time worrying in case either of them picked up they were friendly. What was worse however was watching Hermione laughing and smiling with the Potters and the Weasleys, as well as trying to control his jealously whenever any of the boys touched her.

For weeks after they returned to school Draco tried to decide what to do about the new feelings he was developing for Hermione. Being friends with her was risky enough but starting a relationship with the muggleborn was another thing entirely, Draco knew he risked being ostracised from his family if he did pursue anything with Hermione. Draco was still undecided what to do about Hermione when Christmas arrived and he feared he had lost any chance he may have had with the brunette Gryffindor.

That year Hogwarts was hosting The Triwizard Tournament, a magical competition that pitted a champion from each of the three competing schools against each other. The moment Dumbledore mentioned the accompanying Yule Ball, Draco had thought about asking Hermione. Draco however knew that it wouldn't be advisable, as there was no way he could attend the event with Hermione on his arm without his father finding out. Instead he had asked Pansy Parkinson to accompany him while Hermione had agreed to go with the Durmstrang champion and international Quidditch star, Viktor Krum.

Draco knew he couldn't compete with an older, world famous Quidditch star but that didn't stop him being jealous the entire evening. Every time Pansy touched him he felt physically ill, so he spent the night pushing her off him. Draco also felt ill every time he saw Krum touching Hermione, he had to fight the urge to physically separate them numerous times throughout the night.

By the end of the night Draco was feeling awful. The pull he felt towards Hermione seemed to have gone into overdrive and it was screaming at him that Hermione was his. Draco was surprised by his possessive feelings and the urge to claim Hermione as his partner. By this time Draco had also admitted to himself that he had seriously fallen for Hermione, although he had no idea what to do about it.

While most of the night of the Yule Ball had been awful for Draco it was the final five minutes that he still remembered as being so special. After getting rid of Pansy, Draco had gone outside for a breath of fresh air before bed. While he was outside he had ran into Hermione and the pair had spoken for the first time that night. After exchanging a few pleasantries Draco had asked Hermione for a dance, the music from the hall was just say audible where they were. The moment Hermione was in his arms all the jealously and anxiety slipped away from Draco, instead he couldn't help but marvel at how perfect it felt holding Hermione. After their dance they had said goodbye and parted for the night.

The Yule Ball seemed to change the dynamic between Draco and Hermione, they still spent a lot of time together but there was now a clear attraction between the pair. Neither Draco nor Hermione commented or acted on the change, until mid-February and the day of the second task in the Triwizard Tournament.

Draco had woken up on the day in question with a feeling of dread in his stomach. All morning he had tried to ignore the feeling but by the start of the task at midday he was convinced his bad feeling had something to do with Hermione. As the three champions started the task in The Black Lake Draco scanned the crowds looking for Hermione, he was seriously worried when he saw Potter and Weasley watching the action without any sign of Hermione being with them.

Throughout the task Draco was on edge and when Krum arrived back on the shore of The Black Lake it took an immense amount of control for Draco not to go rushing over when he spotted Hermione had been involved in the task. As the task concluded and the points awarded Draco was fuming that Dumbledore had put Hermione in danger. It never occurred to Draco to be concerned for Gabrielle Delacour or Cho Chang, the other two unwitting people involved the task, all his concern was for Hermione.

On the way back to the castle Draco managed to grab hold of Hermione and drag her into an empty classroom, even though she was walking with Potter and Weasley neither boy noticed her sudden disappearance. Once they were alone Draco admitted how worried he had been and on impulse he had kissed Hermione. When Hermione kissed him back Draco was ecstatic.

The next day Draco and Hermione had talked about their changing relationship for the first time. Both admitted they had fallen for each other and both agreed they should give their relationship a try, although they also both agreed that it would have to be conducted in secret.

The rest of the year passed all too quickly for Draco's liking as he and Hermione enjoyed the first flushes of romance. That summer, like all the rest since starting school, left Draco feeling lost and incomplete without Hermione around. Draco had noticed that the lost feeling was getting stronger each summer, it seemed that the closer he got to Hermione the more her absence affected him.

By the time school resumed Draco was eager to see his girlfriend, Hermione was just as keen to see him and the couple even risked grabbing a few minutes together on the train. During the first few months of their fifth year Draco and Hermione's relationship progressed nicely. They often wished they could spend more time together but they both knew that they still had to spend time with their friends so people didn't get suspicious of their frequent absences.

Just after Christmas Draco and Hermione had their first fight, surprisingly it was their first fight since they became friends in second year. When school restarted after Christmas break Draco noticed that Weasley was paying far more attention to Hermione. Draco had never considered Potter or Weasley as a romantic rival, he'd never before witnessed anything that indicated that either boy realised just how attractive their female friend was. Something had obviously changed though as it was clear to Draco that Weasley was totally infatuated with his girlfriend.

When Draco had broached the subject with Hermione she had laughed him off, claiming he was mistaken. Draco however was convinced he was right and kept a close eye on Weasley. After one particular potions lesson when Weasley had been getting too close to Hermione for Draco's liking, he arranged for Crabbe and Goyle to 'accidentally' run into him after class. Weasley had come out of the incident with a bloody nose, much to Draco's pleasure and Hermione's annoyance.

Hermione had been furious at Draco and had yelled at him for some time, accusing him of being a jealous Neanderthal. Draco openly admitted being jealous but he also admitted that he was only jealous because he was in love with Hermione and afraid of losing her. Draco's declaration calmed Hermione down and she told Draco she was in love with him. Once the couple had made up Hermione made Draco promise to leave her friends alone, Draco reluctantly agreed but he still kept a close eye on Weasley for the rest of the year.

At the beginning of sixth year Hermione had admitted that Draco was right and her redheaded friend did indeed have a crush on her. After a lot of coaxing Hermione finally admitted that over the summer Weasley had made a move on her, although she reassured Draco that she immediately rebuffed his advances. Draco had always known that Hermione spent time with Potter and Weasley outside of school and he couldn't help but be slightly jealous, after all he had spent his summer longing to see Hermione.

By Christmas break Hermione had repeatedly told Weasley she wasn't interested in him in a romantic way. The redhead was taking so long to get the message that Hermione decided to stop at school for the holidays, normally she went home and her family would usually go to The Weasley house on Boxing Day. With Hermione stopping at school without her two friends Draco had informed his parents that he would be stopping at Hogwarts, he used the excuse he had lots of work to get through.

Draco and Hermione spent most of the holidays together, although they made sure they were never seen together in public. Draco even took Hermione down into the Slytherin dorms on several occasions as all his roommates had returned home for Christmas. Hermione had loved the Slytherin common room and had confessed to Draco that she felt much more comfortable down in the dungeons than she ever did up in Gryffindor Tower.

Over the holidays the couple had made love for the first time. Since the start of sixth year their relationship had been getting more physical, the only reason they hadn't had sex earlier was the fact they wanted their first time to be special and not just a quickie in an empty classroom. But with an empty Slytherin dormitory at their disposal the couple were finally able to take the next step in their relationship.

As well as getting physically acquainted with each other they also spoke about the future for the first time. Despite the many obstacles they knew their relationship would face Draco and Hermione agreed that their future was together and they wouldn't allow anyone or anything to separate them.

As the year wore on Draco and Hermione were finding it harder and harder to keep their relationship a secret. Eventually they had a serious talk and decided it was time to tell people what was going on. After much discussion the couple decided to wait until after Draco's seventeenth birthday, that way he would be a legal adult in the wizarding world and his parents couldn't stop him from being with Hermione.

Draco knew his parents were still likely to cut him off but because he would be seventeen he would have access to his own account at Gringotts. While his own personal account was measly in comparison to what he would inherit off his father it was still more than enough for Draco to live quite comfortably. Hermione felt guilty that Draco would potentially lose his family but he assured her that he could live without his parents, he couldn't live without her in his life.

The last few weeks of sixth year consisted of Draco and Hermione planning how they were going to reveal their relationship. They decided to confront Draco's parents first, Hermione was confident that if they reacted too badly and kicked Draco out her own parents would provide him with a roof over his head until their return to school. After Draco's parents they planned on informing Hermione's, then they would deal with Potter and Weasley.

They arranged to deliver the news a few weeks into the summer break, those few weeks gave Draco enough time to pass his apparition test and make sure he had all his belongings packed in case things turned nasty with his parents. That was how Draco found himself staring around a room he might never see again.

Satisfied he had everything he would want Draco locked his trunk and placed it at the foot of his bed. If things went the way he was expecting them to later he would summon the trunk before he left with Hermione. Taking a final look at his bedroom Draco pulled out his wand and apparated to a deserted park a few minutes from Hermione's house. The week before Draco had met up with Hermione in London and the witch had taken him to the park and showed him how to get to her house so when the time came he would be able to come and pick her up to return to the manor.

Arriving in the park Draco put his wand into his pocket and began to walk towards Hermione's house. The Grangers lived in a large house situated on the corner of a nearby street. Before approaching the house Draco checked Hermione's bedroom window, they had decided that Hermione would draw her curtains if for some reason it wasn't advisable for Draco to knock on the door. Once he had established Hermione's curtains were open Draco approached the house, knocking firmly on the white front door.

Seconds after knocking the front door flew open and Draco found himself staggering backwards as Hermione rushed at him. Draco hugged his girlfriend for a few minutes before they parted enough to face each other.

"Missed me, have you?" Draco asked cheekily. Despite only having being separated for two weeks it still felt like an eternity to both teenagers.

"I might have," Hermione responded. "Did you miss me?"

"I might have," Draco mimicked Hermione, before pressing his lips softly to hers.

When Draco broke the kiss after only a few seconds Hermione moaned in disappointment. Draco chuckled softly and gave her another quick kiss.

"We'll have time to catch up later," he said to his pouting girlfriend. "Are you ready to go?"

"I suppose so," Hermione sighed. As much as she wanted her relationship to be out in the open she wasn't relishing meeting Draco's parents, she hadn't actually met Lucius or Narcissa but she had heard enough about them to be nervous.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to protect you," Draco reassured Hermione as she grabbed her jacket and locked the front door.

"What are they likely to do?" Hermione asked as the couple began walking back towards the deserted park. The park was the safest place to apparate without being seen by muggles.

"I think mostly they'll just hurl insults at you, I'll try and stop them but they might manage to get some thrown into the conversation," Draco said. He hated the idea of anyone speaking badly about Hermione but knew his parents, especially his father, wouldn't be able to have a conversation with a muggleborn without resorting to some sort of name-calling.

"I can handle any insult they want to throw at me," Hermione said determinedly.

Draco smiled at Hermione's bravery, even though she was going to meet two people who despised her kind she still wouldn't let herself be intimidated. "Are you ready?" He asked as the couple arrived at the park.

Hermione nodded and took hold of Draco's hand as they prepared to apparate. Because of the wards surrounding the manor the only way Hermione would be able to enter the property was with a member of the Malfoy family. Hermione took a deep breath and shut her eyes as Draco produced his wand and apparated them to Malfoy Manor.

When Hermione opened her eyes she found herself standing in front of a large manor house. Hermione's eyes widened at the sight, she knew Draco came from a wealthy family but she had no idea that his house was so magnificent, clearly his family were a lot richer than he liked to admit. Staring at the house Hermione was amazed that Draco would give up everything for her, if he lived his life in a way his parents approved of one day he would be the owner of the manor and would most likely have obscene amounts of money, yet he was willing to walk away from all of that just to be with her.

"Come on, let's get this over with," Draco said, pulling on Hermione's hand and leading her towards the manor. He had given Hermione a few minutes to take in his large house but now he just wanted to face his parents and get his relationship with Hermione out in the open.


	5. Chapter 5

"Have you seen Draco?" Narcissa Malfoy asked as she walked into her husband's study.

"No, try his room," Lucius Malfoy answered, not looking up from his paperwork.

"I have, he's not there," Narcissa sighed, sitting down in the chair opposite Lucius's desk.

Lucius finally looked up at his wife, it was evident from her tone of voice that she was concerned about their son. "He's probably gone out with friends," he told his wife.

"He never mentioned going anywhere," Narcissa argued.

"He's seventeen, Cissa. Take it from someone who knows, seventeen year old boys don't tell their parents where they are every minute of the day." Lucius tried to reassure his wife that Draco was fine, wherever he was.

"I know that," Narcissa conceded. "I'm just worried about him, he's been so withdrawn since returning home for summer."

"He's always been quiet and introverted, even when he was a child," Lucius pointed out. The fact that he had barely seen his son for the last two weeks wasn't unusual so Lucius saw no reason to worry.

"I know, but it's getting worse," Narcissa said fiercely, desperate to get her husband to take her seriously.

"It might be the bond with Athena," Lucius mused. "I'm guessing by now he's feeling pretty lost and incomplete. The bond isn't designed to tolerate long periods of separation."

"I wish there was some way we could help him," Narcissa sighed, wondering if the bond was the reason her son was so quiet and withdrawn.

"So do I," Lucius admitted. For years he had lived with the guilt of bonding Draco to a witch who he might never meet. "Sometimes I wish we'd never gone through with the bonding ceremony."

"It's not our fault, Lucius," Narcissa said reassuringly, noticing how guilt ridden her husband looked. "We did the right thing for Draco and Athena. We didn't know Dumbledore and the Order were going to kill Tom and Adelaide and kidnap Athena."

"True, I don't suppose anyone could have predicted what they were going to do," Lucius conceded.

"Of course they couldn't," Narcissa said, standing up and straightening her robes. "No-one could predict the so called light side would be callous enough to kidnap a child and kill her parents."

Lucius opened his mouth to respond but before he managed to speak there was a loud popping sound and one of the house elves appeared in the room. Immediately the elf bowed its head down low and apologised for interrupting.

"What is it Dobby?" Lucius questioned, not in the mood for the elf's theatrics. Any of the other elves would have apologised and gotten straight to the point but Dobby always liked to make lengthy apologies.

"Master Draco is in the front room, he wishes to speak with you and mistress," Dobby squeaked before disappearing with a pop.

"Why on earth would he send an elf to get us?" Narcissa asked. "Why doesn't he just come in here if he wishes to speak to us?"

"I suppose we'll find out if we go and see him," Lucius said as he stood up. He was also curious about Draco sending Dobby to find them but unlike Narcissa, who would ponder on the mystery for a while before acting, he was intending to go straight to Draco and find out what was happening.

Leaving Lucius's study the couple headed towards the front room. When they entered the front room they found Draco sitting on one of the large sofas, a brunette girl sitting beside him. As Lucius and Narcissa moved further into the room they both noticed that Draco was holding tightly onto the girl's hand.

"Mother, Father." Draco nodded to his parents who stood looking at him in curiosity.

"Draco," Lucius responded. "I take it your friend here is the reason you wished to speak with us."

"Yes," Draco said, standing up and pulling Hermione with him. "I want to introduce you both to my girlfriend, Hermione."

Lucius and Narcissa turned to stare at each other in shock. While Draco's bond with Athena wouldn't stop him from getting casually involved with other witches it would definitely have prevented him from getting serious with anyone. Clearly he was serious about the witch with him though if he had brought her home to the manor.

"Well aren't you going to say something?" Draco asked, slightly bemused by his parent's odd reaction.

Narcissa opened her mouth to speak but when she found she didn't know what to say she shut it again and sat down on the sofa. Lucius knew that the time had come to tell Draco about the bond with Athena, knowing it was going to be an awkward conversation he sat down next to his wife and gestured for Draco and his girlfriend to also sit down.

Taking a deep breath Lucius began to speak. "I'm sorry Draco, I'm sure Miss…"

"Granger," Hermione provided, realising Draco hadn't mentioned her surname.

"I'm sure Miss Granger is a lovely young lady but I'm afraid nothing can ever happen between you two," Lucius said.

"What do you mean nothing can ever happen?" Draco demanded. "It already has. We've been together for two and a half years."

"That's impossible," Lucius muttered, wondering why Draco's bond with Athena hadn't prevented him from getting involved with someone else.

"It's not impossible," Draco snapped. He was annoyed that his father was already being unreasonable and they hadn't even gotten to Hermione's blood status.

"I'm sorry," Narcissa said, deciding to join the conversation while Lucius tried to figure out what was happening. "We don't mean to be rude, it's just a shock to discover that Draco is involved with someone."

"It's okay," Hermione said as Draco snorted in disgust beside her. "I suppose it is a bit shocking considering you know nothing about me."

"Why don't you tell us about yourself," Narcissa suggested. "I can't say I've ever heard of the Grangers before."

"You wouldn't have heard of them. They're muggles," Draco informed his parents.

"This just gets better." Lucius muttered with an unimpressed snort. "Not only does he get involved with another witch, he picks a bloody mudblood."

"Don't call Hermione that vile name," Draco snarled at his father. "I know what you think of muggleborns but I love Hermione and she deserves some respect."

"Love?" Lucius exploded, finally beginning to react the way Draco was expecting. "You don't love her, you can't."

"I do love her," Draco yelled, standing up to face his father who had also risen from his seat. "I love her more than anything and if you can't accept that then I'm leaving."

"That's enough," Narcissa exclaimed, moving to stand in-between her husband and son. "Both of you sit down and we'll discuss this like adults."

After a stony glare from Narcissa both Malfoy men returned to their seats. Once she was satisfied that all the shouting was over Narcissa also returned to her seat next to Lucius.

"I think it's time we told you something, Draco," Narcissa said as she turned to speak directly to her son. "You can't be with Hermione. It has nothing to do with her being a muggleborn either," she added as Draco started to protest.

"Although her being a mudblood isn't exactly helping matters," Lucius sneered at Hermione.

"Lucius, stop," Narcissa scolded her husband as she saw the dark look on Draco's face. "Hermione isn't the issue here."

"Your mother's right," Lucius admitted. "We would be having the same conversation even if you were introducing us to a nice pureblood witch."

"I hardly think so," Draco sneered. "We all know what your problem is with the situation."

"I admit I don't like the fact you've gotten involved with a mudblood," Lucius said honestly. Although to be honest he was more confused by the fact Draco had managed to sustain a two year relationship with someone who wasn't Athena. "But that's not the real problem."

"Then what is the problem?" Draco asked, curious as to what nonsense his father would come up with.

"When you were a baby you were involved in a bonding ceremony with the daughter of friends of ours," Narcissa explained. "You're meant to be with her, you can't get involved with anyone else."

"The ceremony clearly failed," Draco scoffed. "Hermione and I have been together for a long time and our relationship is a serious one."

"I admit the fact that you're serious about this witch is puzzling," Lucius said. "But the ceremony didn't fail, you are bonded with another witch."

"So how do we break the bond?" Draco asked, glancing at Hermione. She hadn't spoken for a long time and the second Narcissa mentioned bonding she had pulled her hand away from him.

"You can't break a magical bond," Hermione answered before either Lucius or Narcissa could speak. Over the years Hermione had read up on all sorts of magic as she immersed herself into her new world, through her reading she now knew that bonding ceremonies were unbreakable and Draco's meant the end of their relationship.

"This is ridiculous," Draco exclaimed, he could see that Hermione believed their relationship was doomed and he wasn't having it. "How can I be bonded with this witch if I'm in love with Hermione?"

"You're not really in love with her," Lucius said. "You really shouldn't have been able to get so heavily involved with her, but I guarantee their will be limits to your relationship. The bond will prevent you from ever being together permanently."

"What sort of limits?" Draco asked. "That really makes no sense, I already know that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Hermione."

"You won't." Lucius shook his head. "The bond will only allow you to be with the witch you're destined for."

"By 'be with' do you mean sex?" Draco asked, much to the surprise of the other three people in the room. "Well do you?" He prompted when Lucius remained silent.

"Yes," Lucius replied quietly. He wasn't comfortable with discussing such matters, especially as there was a stranger in the room.

"Well then the bond didn't work," Draco smirked. "It certainly didn't stop us from being together."

Lucius spluttered at what Draco was saying while Hermione blushed bright red. It was bad enough that Draco's parents hated her, but now he had told them they had slept together. Totally embarrassed Hermione hung her head and hid behind a long curtain of hair.

"Lucius, what does this mean?" Narcissa asked. "Were we wrong? Is she really dead?"

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked. "Is who dead?"

"Be quiet," Lucius ordered as he abruptly stood up. "Let me think for a minute," he muttered as he began pacing the floor.

As Lucius paced the floor muttering to himself Draco turned to Hermione. Moving her hair out of her face he turned her head towards him.

"This bond thing is ridiculous," he whispered. "I love you and I intend to spend the rest of my life with you."

"If you're really bonded to someone else you can't," Hermione replied quietly.

"I'm beginning to doubt the bond even exists," Draco said, talking slightly louder so that his father could hear him. "If it is real how am I able to break it so easily."

"The bond is very real," Narcissa said. Watching her son and his girlfriend she was beginning to think that Lucius had made a mistake all those years ago and Athena really was dead, if he was still bonded with Athena then she didn't understand how he could be so in love with the witch sitting next to him.

"Yes, it is." Lucius suddenly stopped pacing and turned to the young couple on the sofa. "What do you know about detecting bonding spells?" He asked Hermione, who looked surprised that Lucius was speaking directly to her.

"I know that when a bond is present in a witch or wizard you can detect it with a simple spell. The witch or wizard in question has a golden glow surrounding them if they are indeed bonded," Hermione said, trying to recall everything she had read about bonding.

"I can prove Draco is bonded," Lucius declared. "By casting the spell we can end this argument and accept that Draco is meant to be with another."

"How do we know you won't just cast a spell that produces a golden glow around me?" Draco questioned, unwilling to trust his father.

"Miss Granger knows the spell, she will be able to tell if your father is lying," Narcissa said.

After getting confirmation from Hermione that she would ensure Lucius used the correct spell Draco gave his father permission to try and prove he was bonded to another witch. When Lucius cast the spell Draco immediately checked with Hermione, who confirmed that his father had used the correct spell.

Within seconds of the spell being cast a soft golden glow began to form around Draco. While Lucius and Narcissa looked thrilled at the sight Draco and Hermione were devastated by the proof that Draco belonged with another witch.

"See," Lucius gloated. "I told you…" His voice trailed off as he looked at Draco.

The soft golden glow surrounding Draco had intensified in colour and was now extremely bright. The glow was also spreading over to Hermione and within seconds the couple were both immersed in the golden glow.

"What's happening?" Narcissa asked.

"It's the bond," Lucius said, still trying to digest what he was seeing. The glow of the bond only intensified the way it had when the bonded couple were together in close proximity.

"I know it's the bond," Narcissa snapped. "Why has it changed?"

Before answering Lucius lifted the spell on Draco, revealing a puzzled looking couple waiting for his answer. "It's changed because both parties involved in the bond are together," he said quietly.

Draco and Hermione were still confused but Narcissa turned sharply to face Hermione.

"Athena?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Would someone care to explain what is going on?" Draco snapped as both his parents stared at Hermione.

"I'm not really sure where to begin," Narcissa murmured, studying Hermione as she tried to find anything familiar about her.

"Before we say anything we need to be sure our suspicions are right," Lucius told his wife. They knew nothing about the witch they thought might be Athena and Lucius wasn't prepared to reveal everything he knew to someone who might not be who they thought.

"How do we do that?" Narcissa asked, still watching Hermione.

"I'll be back in a minute," Lucius said before he walked briskly out of the room.

"Mother, what is going on?" Draco asked once his father was out of the room.

"Your father and I will explain everything when he returns," Narcissa said. "I know you are both confused at the minute but hopefully we will have answers for you shortly."

Draco was just about to protest over the secrecy when Lucius returned, carrying with him a wooden box. Draco recognised the box as a magical safe box but he knew it wasn't the Malfoy family box. Lucius placed the box onto the table before turning to Hermione.

"Can you open the box?" He asked.

"No." Hermione shook her head stubbornly. "I want to know what is going on, I don't want to play games."

"It's not a game," Narcissa said softly. "It's our way of checking you are who we think you are."

"And who do you think I am?" Hermione questioned.

"The witch we bonded Draco with as a child," Lucius replied.

"That's impossible," Hermione exclaimed. "I'm a muggleborn. Until I was eleven I didn't even know I could do magic."

"If you are who we think you are then we will explain everything to you," Lucius said. "Please, just try and open the box."

"What happens if I'm not who you think I am, do I still get an explanation?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Narcissa said before her husband could speak as she was certain that Lucius would have said no. "There will be certain things we can't tell you but I promise whatever happens we will explain as much as we can."

Satisfied she would at least get an explanation Hermione sat forward to look at the box on the table. The box was made of a dark wood and there were intricate carvings all around the sides, on top of the box was a large emblem of a snake embedded in the wood.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, slightly wary of opening something she didn't know the contents of.

"It's a magical box, each box is made for one specific family and only members of that family can open it," Lucius explained. "We have one that can only be opened by Malfoys."

Hermione turned to look at Draco, wanting confirmation that his father was telling the truth. When Draco confirmed his family did indeed have a similar box, Hermione turned back to the box she was expected to open. Slightly hesitantly she reached towards the box, the minute her hand hit the smooth wood she felt a warm sensation in her fingertips. Moving her fingers to the catch she flicked it open and the lid of the box popped open slightly.

"Do we get an explanation now?" Hermione insisted, resisting the urge to fully open the box and see what was inside. Right now she wanted to know what was happening and why the Malfoys seemed to think she was the witch they had bonded Draco with.

"Yes, you do," Lucius said, moving to sit back down next to his wife. "First of all what do you know about a wizard named Tom Riddle?"

Hermione thought for a long while, trying to remember if she had ever heard that name. "Nothing, I don't think I've heard of him."

"What about a wizard named Voldemort?" Lucius asked.

"Him I've heard of," Hermione said warily. "But even then I don't know much, just what Harry and Ron told me in first year."

"Who are Harry and Ron?" Narcissa asked.

"My best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley," Hermione answered, getting annoyed that they had drifted off topic.

"Potter and Weasley, I should have known. Bloody Dumbledore," Lucius sneered. "I guess that means you're a Gryffindor."

"Yes, I'm a Gryffindor," Hermione said. "What does what house I'm in or who my friends are have to do with you asking about Voldemort?" She asked, eager to get back to the original conversation.

"Quite a lot, but we'll get to that later," Lucius said. "So what exactly did Potter and Weasley tell you about Voldemort?"

"Not a lot, they said he was a dark wizard that believed that muggleborns shouldn't be allowed to practice magic. They explained that Dumbledore had a group of people that fought against him and during a battle Dumbledore managed to kill him." Hermione told what she knew as quickly as possible, there was still something that bothered her about the story and she didn't like to dwell on it.

"That's partly true," Lucius said. "Voldemort did believe in blood purity and he fought against muggleborns having magic. Most of the stories you can find about him are true, he practiced the dark arts and could be considered a dark wizard. But there was also a part of his life that wasn't public knowledge, the part where he was a loving husband and a doting father."

"Voldemort had a wife and child?" Draco asked in shock. He knew his family had been part of Voldemort's circle of followers but he had never heard of the wizard having a family before.

"Yes," Narcissa nodded, a distant look in her eyes as she remembered their friends.

"What does this have to do with Draco and I?" Hermione asked. "Or this Tom Riddle you asked about earlier?"

"I'm getting there," Lucius said. He smiled at Hermione's impatience, it was trait her father had had. "And as for Tom Riddle, that was Voldemort's real name. Only a few select people ever called him Tom, most knew his as Voldemort or The Dark Lord."

"What happened to his wife and child?" Draco asked. "All the stories I've heard about Voldemort never mention any family."

"They were both believed to have been killed in the same ambush that killed Tom," Lucius said. "A friend of ours was a part of the Order at the time and he came to me as soon as he heard what had happened."

"What had happened?" Hermione asked, getting immersed in the story even though she didn't see what it had to do with her and Draco.

"Dumbledore and his favourite Order members broke into Tom's house in the middle of the night. Nobody apart from that group know exactly what happened but both Tom and his wife, Adelaide, were killed. For some reason Dumbledore also told everyone their young daughter had perished too, but she hadn't."

"How do you know she didn't die?" Draco asked his father.

"Because she's sitting right next to you," Narcissa said with a small smile.

Draco turned to look at Hermione, while his girlfriend just sat looking shell shocked. The moment Lucius had mentioned Hermione being the witch they bonded Draco with years ago both teenagers had been waiting for them to reveal Hermione's true identity but it was still a shock when it had happened.

"No," Hermione whispered, shaking her head. "That's not true, you've made a mistake."

"We haven't," Narcissa said gently. "The night of your parent's deaths we had just performed a bonding ceremony for you and Draco. You've witnessed yourself that the spell revealed that you and Draco are bonded. Plus you opened Tom and Adelaide's safe box, only a Riddle could open the box."

As Hermione sat shaking her head, refusing to believe what she was hearing, Draco began thinking about his connection with Hermione. Suddenly everything made sense, the way he had been so drawn to her, the way he was lost when she wasn't around and all the other little things he hadn't been able to explain. Hermione also being the daughter of a Slytherin also made sense, she'd held no prejudice against Slytherins despite being surrounded by people who did and she had felt completely at ease in the dungeons over Christmas.

"Are you alright, dear?" Narcissa asked Hermione as the younger witch still looked pretty shaken.

"Not really," Hermione muttered. "I've just discovered my whole life's a lie and I have no idea who to trust anymore."

"You can trust me," Draco said, putting his arm around his girlfriend and pulling her into his body.

"I know," Hermione said, leaning into Draco's warmth.

"You can trust all of us," Lucius said. "You're a part of this family and we'll do all we can to help you adjust. Anything you want to know feel free to ask. We promise to tell you the truth."

"I do have a few questions," Hermione said, sitting up straighter but not leaving Draco's side. "How long have you known I wasn't dead? From the way you were talking earlier it was clear you though the witch Draco was bonded with was alive."

"We've known since the beginning," Lucius admitted. "If you had been dead Draco would have been in pain as the bond ended and he wasn't, a simple spell revealed the bond was still intact."

"Why didn't you look for me?" Hermione asked. It was clear the Malfoys were close to her real parents so she was unsure why they didn't find her when they knew she was alive.

"We did," Narcissa said. "We investigated everyone involved with the Order, hoping one of them would suddenly turn up with a baby girl but none did."

"I even investigated people with connections to Dumbledore personally, but the man is so old and has his nose in so many different areas of the wizarding world it was practically impossible to look into everyone he knew," Lucius explained. "We did all we could to find you, unfortunately Dumbledore had hidden you too well."

"Why are you so convinced it was Dumbledore who took me?" Hermione asked.

"It had to be one of the men present during the attack as they told the others you were dead. Dumbledore was the brains behind the Order, he called the shots and no-one would have dared go against him," Lucius explained.

"So you think Dumbledore knows exactly who I am?" Hermione questioned. Her mind was currently going over every interaction she had had with the headmaster of Hogwarts as she tried to remember him ever treating her strangely.

"Yes, there's no way he would kidnap you and not keep an eye on you," Lucius said. "Knowing him I'd like to bet he's actually manipulated your life several times."

"That's ridiculous, Professor Dumbledore has been nothing but kind to me since the day he told me I was a witch," Hermione protested. She was still unconvinced that Dumbledore had anything to do with her kidnapping as a child.

"He was the one who informed you about being a witch?" Lucius asked.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "He came to my house and explained everything to me and my parents."

"The Headmaster never goes to visit the muggleborns, usually that's the job of the deputy head," Lucius said. "The fact he visited you is significant."

"You think he was manipulating me?" Hermione asked. The longer she was speaking to Lucius and Narcissa the more she was beginning to trust them.

"Definitely." Lucius nodded. "Did he do anything else other than explain about your magic?"

"He arranged for us to go to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys and the Potters," Hermione replied, suddenly seeing the manipulation in Dumbledore's actions.

"Of course, two families of his most faithful supporters," Lucius sneered. "Let's guess they were nice and friendly and you've been friends with them ever since."

"Yes," Hermione answered. "Do you think they know who I am?"

"I don't know," Lucius replied. "It's a possibility or Dumbledore could have just told them to be befriend you and your family without giving them details. I do know however that they were all quite happy to let Dumbledore and his cronies attack a house where they knew a young child was. They were so determined to get rid of Tom that it didn't bother them that an innocent woman and her child were involved."

"Do you have any more questions, dear?" Narcissa asked as Hermione once again slipped into silence.

"Just one. What's my real name?"

"Athena," Narcissa smiled. "Athena Riddle."

"What happens now?" Draco asked as Hermione whispered her real name under her breath a few times.

"That's up to Athena," Narcissa said. "What do you want to do, dear?"

"I want to go home," Hermione replied, suddenly standing up. "I appreciate you both being so honest with me but I need some time alone, I need to process what's just happened."

"Of course. Here, take the box," Lucius said, shutting the lid of the box and shrinking it to toy size. "It might help you get to know your parents better."

"Thank you," Hermione said, taking the box and slipping it into her pocket.

"When you're ready you can come here anytime," Narcissa said, standing up and moving closer to Hermione. She really wanted to hug the young witch but she had a feeling that she wasn't ready for that just yet. "You're family so you are always welcome here."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled kindly at Narcissa. She appreciated the gesture and might take her up on it one day but right now she wanted to leave the manor.

"Come on, I'll take you home," Draco said, rising and moving to stand beside Hermione.

"You don't have to, I can get home just fine by myself," Hermione protested. She wanted to be alone and was worried that if Draco was with her he might end up staying for a while to make sure she was alright.

"I insist," Draco said. "I know you want to be alone, but I just need to make sure you get home safely. I promise the second you're safely home I'll leave."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled at Draco as he put his arm around her.

After saying goodbye to Lucius and Narcissa, Draco apparated him and Hermione to the park by her house. Together they walked in silence to Hermione's house. When they reached the front door Draco made Hermione promise to get in touch the second she wanted to talk before he left her alone.

Once inside the house Hermione made her way up to her bedroom, her parents were still at work so the house was empty. Taking the safe box from her pocket she turned it back to full size before hiding it in the bottom of her wardrobe. She fully intended to search the box but for now she was still trying to digest everything that had happened.

Crawling onto her bed Hermione curled up as she thought about everything she had discovered. Not only was she not a muggleborn but her entire life once she started Hogwarts had been manipulated by one of the people she trusted the most. Then there were the Potters and Weasleys, how much did they know about her past? Were Harry and Ron told to befriend her and had they only been pretending to be her friend these last six years?

With hundreds of questions swimming around her head, Hermione lay contemplating her life until she heard her parents return home. After briefly speaking to her mother and feigning illness Hermione returned to bed where she spent the reminder of the night trying to decide what to do with her life now. Did she continue living as Hermione Granger, muggleborn bookworm or did she embrace her new identity as Athena Riddle, daughter of The Dark Lord.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N – Here is the second of the promised bonus chapters. I have to say the response to this story has been pretty overwhelming and I'm thrilled that so many people are enjoying Goddess of Vengeance.**

* * *

During the first few weeks of the school holidays Dumbledore and his four heads of houses spent most of their time planning for the upcoming year. After gaining the list of students who were of age to attend Hogwarts, letters were sent out and plans were made to visit the muggleborns and explain things in person. They also discussed prefects, quidditch captains and head students as well as sorting the timetables. All this was done early in the holidays so for most of the summer the Professors didn't have to worry about school.

"Now onto the Head Boy and Girl," Dumbledore said, addressing the other four people in the room. "I think Head Girl is an easy choice," he began. "Hermione Granger is the perfect candidate, she is the top student in her year and impeccably behaved."

"I agree, Miss Granger would be ideal," said Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor house.

"Yes, most suitable," tiny Professor Flitwick squeaked. Filius Flitwick was Head of Ravenclaw house and had always wished that Hermione had ended up in his house as in his opinion she was an ideal Ravenclaw.

"Severus, Pomona, do either of you have any objections to Miss Granger receiving the head girl post?" Dumbledore asked the other two members of staff.

"Not at all," Pomona Sprout, the Herbology Professor and Head of Hufflepuff, said. "She's a lovely girl."

"Severus?" Dumbledore asked the silent Potions Professor.

"I have no objections to Miss Granger being head girl," Severus drawled. "Although I do have a suggestion for head boy."

"Who?" Dumbledore asked.

He knew Severus was about to suggest a Slytherin but he had a ton of excuses ready to stop that from happening. For six years he had managed to keep Hermione away from Slytherins, in particular Draco Malfoy, and he had no intention of making one Head Boy so she would have to interact with him on a regular basis.

"Draco Malfoy," Severus said. "His results are second only to Miss Granger and he's by far the brightest male student in the school."

"I agree," Flitwick piped up. "The boy is very bright and a great deal of the students already look up to him."

"I agree Mr Malfoy is bright and his results are excellent but he does have a disappointing disciplinary record," Dumbledore argued. "A Head Boy should be perfectly behaved."

"I doubt you'd find a perfectly behaved boy, Albus," McGonagall laughed lightly. "All the boys in this year have been in some sort of trouble over their school career. And his record is no worse than any other student, in fact it's a great deal better than most."

"So you're backing Severus's motion?" Dumbledore questioned McGonagall, slightly surprised that she would back a Slytherin for such a respectable position.

"Yes, I am," McGonagall confirmed with a nod.

"So am I," Sprout added. "Besides Albus you're always talking about uniting the school. Everyone knows the main source of discontent is amongst the Gryffindors and Slytherins, what better way to unite them than having two of their most prominent students as heads together."

"Pomona's right, it could be a perfect chance to try and unite the two houses," McGonagall said. "I can't speak for Mr Malfoy but I can guarantee that Miss Granger will be on board any plans we make regarding house unity."

"I'm confident that Draco would do the same," Severus said, wondering why Dumbledore was needing so much convincing. He'd came the meeting expecting the Head Boy and Girl to be an easy decision, it was obvious from first year that Draco and Hermione were the best two students in the year.

"Really?" Dumbledore questioned, his scepticism written all over his face. "Let's not forget Miss Granger is a muggleborn and we all know the Malfoys opinions on muggleborns."

"Draco is not Lucius," Severus insisted. In all the years he had known Draco, Severus had no idea on the boy's opinions of muggleborns as he was distinctly quiet about his views. "It's not fair to judge him on his father's opinions and beliefs."

"I know, but I'm afraid it's a risk I'm not prepared to take," Dumbledore insisted as he stubbournly shook his head. "Between that and the scrapes that Mr Malfoy has been involved in over the years I can't agree to him being Head Boy."

McGonagall cleared her throats, clearly ready to argue with the headmaster. "But…"

"No," Dumbledore interrupted McGonagall before she even had a chance to finish her sentence. "My decision is final. What other candidates do we have?"

Severus watched Dumbledore as both Flitwick and Sprout tried to come up with suitable candidates from their own house. McGonagall had admitted that she didn't feel any of her boys were head student material.

"What about Blaise Zabini?" Severus questioned, wondering if Dumbledore's problem was with Draco personally or with all Slytherins.

"He's quite lazy," McGonagall said. "I wouldn't want him leaving all the work for Miss Granger."

"How about a Ravenclaw, who do you have Filius?" Dumbledore asked, dismissing the idea of a Slytherin being Head Boy.

As the debate over a couple of Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff raged on, Severus tuned out. It was clear that Dumbledore wasn't interested in having any Slytherin in the top spot but Severus had noticed just how hard he had fought to stop Draco especially from taking the position. In all the years he had been Head of Slytherin he had never seen Dumbledore show such bias against one student or go against all four heads just to get his own way. There was a reason Dumbledore didn't want Draco to be Head Boy with Hermione Granger and Severus was determined to find out the reason.

Ever since Dumbledore's cold attack on Voldemort and his family, Severus had lost all respect for the wizard. One of the only reasons he was still speaking to the man was the fact he liked his job as Potions Professor, Severus saw no reason why he should have to abandon a job he found fulfilling just because of his personal feelings towards Dumbledore. The other reason he was still speaking to him was Lucius Malfoy.

When Severus had confessed to Lucius he had joined the Order and was spying on Voldemort the blond wizard had been disgusted. It was only Severus's pleading and their long term friendship that won Lucius forgiveness. Initially Severus had been going to cut off all contact with the Order but Lucius had persuaded him that he could be of greater help within the enemy camp. After Voldemort's demise Lucius had taken over the Death Eaters and while attacks these days were few and far between Severus knew that Lucius had a small army of followers and when the time was right he could strike.

"Do you have any objections Severus?" Dumbledore's voice brought Severus out of his thoughts.

"About what?" Severus asked.

"About Terry Boot becoming Head Boy," Dumbledore snapped, he was annoyed that Severus seemed to have zoned out and wasn't paying attention.

"I don't suppose it really matters, does it," Severus sneered. "You know my opinions, but I suppose Boot will have to do."

"That's settled then, Hermione Granger and Terry Boot are the head students," Dumbledore said, ignoring the snappish way Severus had spoken to him.

The rest of the meeting was over quickly, the minute it was finished Severus headed straight to his office where he immediately flooed home. For the rest of the day Severus sat in his small back garden with a book, not that he managed to read much as his mind was preoccupied with Dumbledore and what he was up to.

Shortly before eight he headed indoors where he dressed smartly before flooing to Malfoy Manor. Every few weeks Severus dined with the Malfoys, that night he was hoping to speak with Lucius after dinner about what had happened with Dumbledore.

When he arrived at the manor he had a drink in the front room with Lucius and Narcissa. Over the years Severus had to stop Narcissa from trying to set him up with witches on several occasions. While his feelings for Lily had diminished and he was no longer in love with her, he was in no hurry to find someone else to replace her in his affections. Seeing how calm Lily had been at the prospect of an innocent child losing her life had been a major turning point for Severus, he'd been genuinely shocked and disappointed that the woman he considered so kind and caring wasn't trying to protect an innocent life and he just couldn't look at her the same way since then.

After drinks in the front room the trio headed to the dining room for dinner. Once in the dining room they were joined by a sulky looking Draco. Draco barely spoke throughout dinner and once dessert was finished he immediately asked to be excused. Severus was curious as to what was going on, normally Draco was never that quiet and he had noticed both Narcissa and Lucius watching their son with worry evident on their faces.

Shortly after Draco's departure Narcissa also made her excuses to leave and Severus and Lucius gravitated towards Lucius's study. Once ensconced in the opulence of Lucius's study, firewhisky in hand, the men began to talk. Severus began with telling Lucius about Dumbledore's refusal to have Draco as head boy.

"Typical," Lucius scoffed. "They reckon us Slytherins are prejudiced but at least we're upfront about our views unlike those bloody Gryffindors."

"There was more to it than that," Severus said. "We've had Slytherin head students before, it was Draco specifically he argued against."

"Well we both know his opinions regarding me, I suspect he feels Draco is too like me," Lucius shrugged. He wasn't the slightest bit surprised that Dumbledore was against making Draco Head Boy, and quite frankly he would have been more surprised if his son had received the job.

"Maybe, but I just got the impression there was another reason he didn't want Draco as Head Boy," Severus said.

"Enough about that old loon," Lucius declared, refilling their glasses. "Something very interesting happened last week. Draco brought his girlfriend to meet Narcissa and I."

"I didn't know he had one," Severus said in surprise. "I can't say I've noticed him spending time with anyone in particular at school."

"I don't suppose you would have, they kept it pretty quiet," Lucius said.

"Why? Who exactly did he bring to meet you?" Severus asked, intrigued as to who Draco would get involved with and then keep it secret.

"Hermione Granger." Lucius chuckled at the shocked expression that appeared on Severus's face at the revelation.

"I bet you were thrilled with your son dating a muggleborn," Severus chuckled, once he had gotten over the shock. He'd never witnessed any sort of interaction between Draco and Hermione that would indicate they were romantically involved.

"We weren't exactly over the moon by events, but then things got interesting," Lucius said. "I don't think I've ever mentioned it to you, but when he was a baby we bonded Draco with Athena Riddle."

"No, you didn't mention it." Severus's eyes widened at the revelation. "It must have been difficult when she died, the end of a bond is said to be excruciating."

"Actually she didn't die," Lucius admitted, explaining about how they knew Athena had survived.

"Why did you never tell me?" Severus asked. "For years I've tortured myself over the fact I might have been able to save her if I arrived at Order headquarters earlier that night."

"I'm sorry, Severus. I had no idea," Lucius said, feeling guilty for not confiding in his friend earlier. "But the reason I didn't tell you was because I had no idea where she was. I figured Dumbledore had her hidden somewhere but I've never been able to find her."

"Wait a minute, if Draco is bonded to Athena and she's still alive how did he become involved with Granger?" Severus asked. "I thought the bond would have prevented him from entering a relationship with another witch."

"That's exactly what I wanted to know. I couldn't figure out how Draco had gotten so involved with someone who wasn't Athena," Lucius said. "When I cast the spell to prove Draco was bonded with another witch it revealed that he was actually bonded with Hermione."

"How is that possible?" Severus was puzzled for a minute before the answer dawned on him. "Merlin's beard, Hermione Granger is really Athena Riddle."

"Yes," Lucius confirmed. "I've spent the last week researching the family she grew up with, it turns out the man who raised her is a squib and an old acquaintance of Dumbledore's. When I was searching for her originally it was impossible to look into all the old fool's friendships and acquaintances and I missed Granger."

"That makes so much sense," Severus said after a few minutes of silence. "He's always been pretty attentive towards her and I think it explains why he was so determined that Draco wasn't to be Head Boy, Hermione is going to be Head Girl."

"Why keep her away from Draco though?" Lucius asked, before proceeding to answer the question himself. "Although I suppose can understand why Dumbledore would want to keep her away from Slytherins, he wouldn't want her finding out the truth about who she really is."

"It's more than that," Severus explained. "I never told you at the time as it didn't seem necessary, as far as I knew Athena was dead. About a year before the attack that killed Voldemort and his wife, Dumbledore was present when a prophecy was foretold. The prophecy spoke of a girl who was the spawn of the dark and would bring with her wisdom and war."

"Athena," Lucius declared, immediately recognising the meaning of her name in the prophecy.

"That was the conclusion the Order came to, of course at the time they were merely worried that Voldemort would produce an heir," Severus said. "I'm not sure, but by the timing I'm guessing the prophecy was made around the time Athena was born."

"That would be pretty likely," Lucius nodded. "Athena had only just turned one when she was taken."

"Anyway the Order were seriously worried, especially as there was a second part to the prophecy. The second part claimed that the girl would rule the world with her dragon at her side." Severus watched Lucius, knowing his friend would make the connection to his son easily.

"Draco," Lucius gasped.

Severus nodded in agreement. "Draco's birth caused great panic amongst the Order, especially as it was only weeks later that they discovered Athena's existence."

"That's why they attacked," Lucius said. "It wasn't about Tom, they could have fought him anywhere, they wanted Athena."

"I'm guessing Dumbledore was trying to prevent the prophecy coming true," Severus said, agreeing with his friend's logic regarding the night of the attack. "I also think he still is, that's why he wouldn't allow Draco to be Head Boy. He's trying to make sure she doesn't get involved with him."

"Luckily he didn't know about the bond," Lucius smirked. "The bond drew them together and they've been clever enough to hide their relationship for years."

"What happens now?" Severus asked. "Surely everything's going to change now Athena is back."

"Honestly, I don't know," Lucius admitted. "Personally I think it's time we acted and made the Order pay for what they've done but I won't do anything that will upset Athena. After discovering who she really is she asked for some time, so for the minute we wait until she comes to us. Whatever she decides is what we'll do."

"Has she not been in touch since then?" Severus asked and Lucius shook his head. "I guess that explains Draco's foul mood."

"Yes, he's been like that all week," Lucius said. "He really wants to go and see her but he promised to give her space."

"What will you do if she decides she wants nothing to do with who she really is?" Severus questioned. "What if she decides to stay Hermione Granger, muggleborn best friend to Potter and Weasley?"

"Then that is what she does," Lucius shrugged. "I admit I would be disappointed if that is the decision she makes, but I would support it. I am hoping she has quite a bit of her father in her and seeks vengeance. I saw flashes of Tom in her last week but I have no idea how much of him is actually in her."

"I suppose we'll have to wait and see," Severus said. "I also want to make it clear, if you need any help I'll be there for you and Athena."

"What about Lily Potter?" Lucius asked. He knew all about the reason Severus had joined the Order in the first place. "If we do retaliate she'll be in the line of fire."

"I know, but the Lily I loved is long gone. She got so caught up with defeating Voldemort and stopping the prophecy coming true that she forgot to think about the little girl involved, they all did," Severus replied sadly.

"As long as you're sure. You may be my friend Severus but Athena is my family, if you betray her I promise you'll regret it," Lucius warned his friend, a dark, menacing look on his face.

"I won't," Severus gulped nervously. He wouldn't betray the dark for a second time but he couldn't help but be intimidated by Lucius, he was already so protective of Athena and technically she wasn't family until she married Draco.

"Good," Lucius smiled at his friend before reaching for the firewhisky. "Let's drink to the future. I have a feeling it's going to be good."


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione sat quietly eating her breakfast as her parents got ready for work. As she ate her cereal Hermione was aware of the sneaky looks her parents were throwing her way. Ever since discovering her true identity a little over a week ago Hermione had been withdrawn and had missed several meals.

"It's nice to see you looking more like your normal self," Hermione's mother said as she picked up her car keys. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yes, I'm feeling much better," Hermione replied. In the last few days she had made some decisions regarding her life and starting that day she was going to stop moping around and deal with what had happened.

"Good," Jean smiled as she gave her daughter a peck on the cheek. "See you tonight, sweetie."

"Bye," Hermione said, watching as her parents set off to work.

Once she was alone Hermione finished her cereal before washing her bowl and putting it away in the cupboard. As she went upstairs to get dressed Hermione's mind started wandering to her real parents, once again she found herself wondering what they were like and how much different her life would have been if she had been raised by them.

It had taken Hermione a few days to get up the courage to open the safe box and take a good luck through the contents. She'd found various documents regarding properties and bank accounts the couple owned as well as several pieces of expensive looking jewellery. What interested Hermione the most though was the two large photo albums she discovered in the bottom of the box. One album was full of pictures of her parents before she was born while the second album documented her first year as a child.

Hermione had spent hours studying the pictures, trying to reconcile the smiling man who was her father with the ruthless dark wizard she had heard he was. No matter how much she thought about it Hermione couldn't agree with her father's belief's, she'd spent six years facing the prejudice against muggleborns and she still though it was unnecessary. She firmly believed that a person's parentage shouldn't define whether or not they were worthy of magic. Despite not agreeing with her father's beliefs or being particularly impressed with how he had behaved regarding muggleborns, Hermione still felt sorrowful when she thought about the fact she would never know him or her mother.

As well as dealing with the fact she would never know her real parents, Hermione was also trying to deal with the reason why she wouldn't ever know them. No matter how much she thought about it Hermione couldn't find any way to make what Dumbledore and the Order had done to her acceptable. She couldn't help but feel that if the situations had been reversed and it had been her father who had killed a couple and kidnapped a baby he would be regarded as pure evil, but when Dumbledore had done the same he was hailed a hero.

It was Dumbledore and the Order that were bothering her the most. Hermione had made some decisions on what she wanted to do now she knew the truth but what she really needed was to know exactly what had happened the night she was taken. Her head was a mess as she tried to figure out who to trust and what people knew, unfortunately without more information she had no idea who she could rely on.

It was her search for the truth that had led her to send an owl to Lucius the previous day, asking for a private meeting with her boyfriend's father. When he'd revealed the truth about her identity Lucius had promised to help and Hermione was hoping he would be able to get the information she required before she made any final decisions about what happened next.

Lucius had immediately responded to Hermione's request and after exchanging several more owls it was arranged that Lucius would visit Hermione while her parents were at work. Hermione hadn't wanted to visit the manor as she wished to speak to Lucius before she saw Draco. Currently sitting on her desk was a letter to her boyfriend that Hermione planned on sending after she had spoken with Lucius.

Once she was dressed Hermione checked the time, cursing quietly as she realised that Lucius was due any minute. Hermione was guessing that if Draco had gotten his timekeeping ability off his father then Lucius would either be spot on time or even a few minutes early. Hermione had barely descended the stairs when the doorbell rang, one minute before her arranged meeting with Lucius.

Opening the door Hermione found an uncomfortable looking Lucius Malfoy standing on the doorstep. She figured he wasn't used to being in a muggle neighbourhood.

"Mr Malfoy, please come in," Hermione greeted, opening the door and allowing the blond wizard entrance to her house.

"Thank you," Lucius nodded. "And please, call me Lucius."

"Can I get you anything?" Hermione asked as she led Lucius into the front room. "A drink perhaps?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine," Lucius said, looking around the room he had just entered. The house was warm and welcoming but it was nothing like the grandeur Athena should have grown up in.

"Please, take a seat," Hermione said, perching herself on the edge of a leather recliner.

"So, Athena what can I help you with?" Lucius said, settling on the sofa.

"First of all my name is Hermione. I'm not ready to deal with using another name, maybe one day but not now," Hermione explained, hoping that Lucius would understand her reluctance to change her name.

"I understand," Lucius replied. He was pleased to note that Hermione wasn't ruling out returning to her real name in the future, hopefully that meant she was willing to embrace her true self. "Forgive me if I slip up, for nearly eighteen years I've thought of you as Athena."

"It's okay, I know it'll take some getting used to," Hermione conceded. She knew that while she needed time to adjust, so did the Malfoys.

"Don't worry, I'll get used to it," Lucius said, smiling at Hermione. "So Hermione, how can I help?"

"I need to know what happened the night my parents were killed," Hermione announced, getting straight to the point of the meeting. "I know you've told me all you know but I need to know the whole truth. Is Dumbledore the only person aware I'm still alive? What do the Potters and Weasleys know about me? I've got a million questions and I need the answers."

"Getting to the truth will be tricky," Lucius admitted. "Dumbledore took his most trusted followers with him, only they know the truth."

"Who did he have with him?" Hermione asked, suddenly realising they hadn't discussed who else was present at her parents murder and her kidnap.

"His usual bunch of favourites," Lucius sneered. "Potter, Weasley, Lupin, Black and Longbottom."

Apart from Longbottom, presumably the father of fellow Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom, Hermione realised she knew all the men involved. Potter and Weasley were clearly James and Arthur, fathers to her best friends and men who had always treated her so kindly. Black was Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and best friend to James. Like James and Arthur, Sirius was always nice to Hermione and often entertained her and her friends with stories of his schooldays. Lupin was Remus Lupin, another good friend of James and Sirius and also the Defence against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. Like the other men Remus had always been nice to her and he was one of Hermione's favourite Professors.

"Are you alright?" Lucius asked, noticing that the names of the men involved in her kidnapping seemed to have affected Hermione.

"Yes, it's just I know most of them personally," Hermione admitted. "They've always been so nice to me, yet they destroyed my life when I was only a baby."

"Maybe that's why they're so nice," Lucius suggested.

"Maybe," Hermione shrugged, shaking her head as she tried to remember the real reason for her talk with Lucius. "Anyway, do you think you can get me the truth about that night?"

"I'll try my best," Lucius said. "I won't promise because I never break promises and I can't guarantee a result. But I assure you I'll do everything in my power to discover what really happened that night."

"Thank you, I appreciate it," Hermione said. Until she knew what really happened that night she wouldn't be able to move on with her life so she was hoping that Lucius was successful in gaining the information she desired.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Lucius asked. "I know we didn't really discuss your parents much last week but if you want to know about them, Narcissa and I will be more than happy to fill you in."

"I'd like that," Hermione smiled. "But for today there's something else I wish to ask you about, the bond with Draco."

"What exactly do you want to know?" Lucius questioned. "I got the impression you understood magical bonds quite well."

"I understand the basics," Hermione explained. "What I'm really interested in is the love part of the bond."

"You want to know if your feelings for Draco are real or because of the bond," Lucius remarked, realising Hermione's worry.

Hermione nodded, it felt rather uncomfortable to be discussing such matters with Lucius but she need to know how much the bond had affected her feelings for Draco. She'd only started wondering about the bond a few days earlier and while she knew her relationship with Draco would continue she would be slightly upset if their feelings for each other had been entirely produced because of the bond.

"The bond does produce a connection based on love," Lucius said, noticing Hermione's face fall at his words. "But it's only a basic connection. The bond ensures a couple have enough love for each other to live happy and satisfying lives together."

"So you're saying that Draco and I only love each other because of the bond," Hermione said sadly.

"No." Lucius shook his head. "From the little I've seen of you and Draco I would say your feelings are far stronger than any the bond produces. The bond ensures you love the person you're bonded with, it doesn't ensure you're in love with them."

"How are you so sure Draco and I are really in love?" Hermione asked. Lucius's second response had helped sooth her worries slightly but she was still concerned their feelings might not be real.

"Only you and Draco know if you're in love," Lucius replied. "I'm just basing my opinions on what I've seen of the two of you and my knowledge of bonded couples."

"Do you have much experience in that area?" Hermione questioned.

"A little, my parents were bonded when they were children," Lucius replied. "They loved each other and were very happy together, but they never fell in love. The bond ensured they lived a happy and fulfilling life but they both admitted that there was no real spark and passion in their relationship. That's one thing the bond can't produce, if you and Draco have real passion that's something the bond hasn't created."

By the time Lucius had finished speaking Hermione was smiling, immensely relieved by what he was telling her. She and Draco had a very passionate relationship and she was relieved to hear that it wasn't all a product of their bond.

"I take it you're happier now," Lucius said, noticing the relief that had overtaken Hermione as he explained the intricacies of the bond.

"Yes, thank you for explaining things to me," Hermione said.

"Anytime," Lucius replied as he stood up and straightened his robes. "I should be off now. I'll try my best to get the information you wanted and hopefully we'll be seeing you soon at the manor."

"Hopefully," Hermione responded noncommittally as she walked Lucius to the front door.

Hermione was actually hoping to spend more time at the manor as she had a lot more she wanted to know about her parents. However she knew she had to be careful disappearing too often. Luckily both her parents worked full time so for the majority of the holidays she was left alone. The only times she really wasn't alone was when she and her family were on holiday or the times she was invited to either The Burrow or Godric's Hollow to spend time with her friends, although at the minute both the Potters and the Weasleys were on holiday.

After seeing Lucius off, Hermione rushed up to her bedroom. Grabbing the letter for Draco she hurriedly gave it to her owl to deliver. Now she had spoken to Lucius and asked him to help her she was desperate to see Draco and ask his opinion of what she had decided to do now she knew the truth of who she really was.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

At quarter to eleven, once she was sure her parents were settled in their bedroom for the night, Hermione cast several silencing charms around her own room. She was expecting Draco at eleven and didn't want her parents to hear the pop of apparition when he appeared in her bedroom. Hermione knew the charms would be useful later as she was also planning on getting Draco to stay the night.

Once the charms were in place Hermione settled down to wait for Draco. At exactly eleven there was a loud popping noise and Draco appeared in the middle of her bedroom. Before Draco even had a chance to speak Hermione had jumped up off her bed and wrapped her arms tightly around Draco.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Draco asked stroking his girlfriend's soft hair.

"I'm better now you're here," Hermione replied before crashing her lips against Draco's.

Draco immediately responded to the kiss and wrapped his arms tightly around Hermione's waist. As they were kissing Hermione began walking them backwards, until they toppled over onto her freshly made bed.

"Do you want to talk about last week?" Draco asked as the couple settled on the bed properly.

"Not yet," Hermione replied, pushing her boyfriend further down onto the bed and climbing on top of him. "We can talk later, right now all I want is you."

As she finished speaking Hermione once again connected her lips to Draco's as two pairs of hands began tearing off clothes. For the next couple of hours all thoughts of Hermione's real identity was forgotten as the two lovers made up for the fact they hadn't seen each other in over a week and hadn't been together for nearly a month.

Nearly two hours after Draco arrived, Hermione was finally ready to talk about the previous week. Despite the fact it was the early hours of the morning Hermione was lying contentedly in Draco's arms as the couple discussed the outcome of their visit to the manor. While events had been shocking for Hermione they had also been surprising for Draco, he had spent weeks preparing himself to be disowned for loving a muggleborn but instead he had ended up having a girlfriend that his parents loved and actively encouraged a relationship with.

"Do you know what you're going to do now?" Draco asked, his fingers trailing along Hermione's bare arm.

"I think so," Hermione sighed, still slightly undecided with her decision. "My first reaction was to leave school and refuse to have anything to do with Dumbledore and his precious Order."

"That doesn't really sound like you," Draco said. "You never run from anything."

"I know. That's why the more I thought about it the more I realised I didn't want to run. That was when I thought about what I did want."

"What do you want?" Draco asked.

"Vengeance," Hermione said, turning slightly so she could observe Draco's reaction.

Hermione knew that despite the fact he was a loving and caring boyfriend there was definitely a dark streak in Draco's personality, one he managed to bury pretty well. She was hoping that his dark, Slytherin side would appear and he would stand by her side as she did what she had to do.

Draco's lips formed into his famous smirk and Hermione noticed the dark glint appear in his eye. "What exactly did you have in mind?" He asked.

"I'm planning on destroying the lives of everyone involved in my kidnapping," Hermione announced. She had given her plans a lot of thought over the last few days and although it may seem extreme she just couldn't sit back and do nothing now she knew what Dumbledore and the Order had done.

"How will you know exactly who to target?" Draco asked. "From what father said, all the Order were told you were dead."

"That's why I asked your father for help earlier today. He's going to try and find out exactly what happened the night I was kidnapped," Hermione explained. "If he can't find any additional information I'll have to focus most of my attention on Dumbledore, although I want everyone in the Order to suffer. Even if they didn't know what happened to me they were all happy to let me perish."

"Do you know how you're going to make them pay?" Draco asked, thoroughly impressed with the darker side of Hermione's nature. He'd always suspected his girlfriend had a darker side but her naturally sunny disposition hid it extremely well.

"Not yet, that's the part that needs work. Will you help me?" She asked nervously. Hermione was worried that Draco would disapprove of her plan and try to talk her out of it.

"I'll help you on one condition," Draco said, suddenly looking very serious. "You need to be certain this is what you want before we begin. Whatever we do you have to be sure you can live with it once this is over. I don't want you taking your revenge only to have you suffering with guilt later on."

"I won't," Hermione vowed as she stubbornly shook her head. "This is what I need to do, I need to avenge my parent's deaths."

"In that case, I'm right behind you," Draco smirked, the dark glint once again present in his grey eyes. "We'll make them pay for what they did to you and your parents. I promise."

Hermione grinned and gave Draco a gentle kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Draco replied, pulling Hermione into a deeper kiss as his hands started wandering down her still naked body.


	9. Chapter 9

"Well do you have any ideas?" Lucius asked his friend.

Lucius was currently sitting in Severus's poky cottage as he told his friend about the information Hermione had requested. For two days Lucius had thought about the problem but he had no idea how to get the information required. He had considered snatching one of the men involved in Tom and Adelaide's death and torturing them for information but he had no idea what Hermione planned on doing now she knew who she really was and he wasn't keen on potentially drawing attention to her. Dumbledore had worked hard to keep her in the dark regarding her true identity and Lucius was slightly worried he might act rashly if he discovered she was aware of the truth.

"It's tricky," Severus replied slowly as he tried to think of a way to help Lucius. "The information really has to come from one of the men involved but they're hardly likely to talk about it."

"I know," Lucius sighed. "I did consider trying to trick one of them into speaking about that night but even then I still wouldn't be sure they were telling the truth."

"I think the only way to know if they're telling the truth is to gain their actual memory of that night," Severus said, an idea starting to form in his head.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Lucius asked. "First of all you would need someone who hasn't mastered occulemency, then you need to remove the memories in such a way that they won't know you've taken them."

"I never said it would be easy," Severus responded. "But with the right person it could work."

"Let me get this straight. You're suggesting we take the memory of that night from one of the men involved," Lucius said, confident he was understanding Severus correctly.

"Exactly," Severus nodded.

"Who do you suggest and how do we get to them?" Lucius asked. He was pleased he had chosen to confide in Severus as his knowledge of the men involved was already proving most helpful.

"I suggest we target either Sirius Black or James Potter, or even both. Neither have even basic skills in occulemency so gaining access to their memories would be quite easy," Severus explained. "As for how we get to them, unlike the rest of the Order they both like to brag about their part in Voldemort's downfall. Using a disguise we can get near to them in the pub, with enough drinks in them it would be easy to get their memories of the night in questions and wipe their memories of ever speaking with us."

Lucius nodded appreciably. "I like it. What pub do they use?" He asked.

"They usually visit The Unicorn's Horn in Godric's Hollow," Severus replied. "It's not as far for them to stumble home when they get drunk."

"I'll make some inquiries, I'm sure I can buy us some privacy the night in question," Lucius said, already planning how to make sure they succeeded in their scheme.

"When are we doing it?" Severus asked.

"I was thinking tomorrow night if I can get everything in place," Lucius responded. "Are you coming with me?"

"Yes, I've already said I want to help," Severus nodded. "Besides I'm better at legilimency than you, it would be easier for me to gain the memories."

"Fine." Lucius conceded that his friend was better placed to retrieve the memories than he was. Lucius had never really mastered occulemency and legilimency, although Narcissa was skilled in both fields and had tried on several occasions to heighten her husband's abilities in the field.

"Do you need me to provide anything else?" Severus asked.

"Yes, bring two vials of polyjuice potion and some suitable hairs. We don't want Potter and Black to recognise us if we just use disguising charms, polyjuice is safer."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow night then," Severus said as Lucius stood up.

"We'll say seven shall we," Lucius said, arranging a time. "Meet me at the manor and we'll go from there."

Severus nodded in agreement before Lucius disappeared with a loud pop. Once alone Severus immediately began searching for his supply of potions, luckily he had several bottles of polyjuice potion already made up. When the potions were sorted Severus retrieved two empty vials for the memories they were planning on collecting. Placing the two potions and the two vials in a safe place Severus then began to plan where he would get the hairs they required for the potion to work.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

A little after seven the following night Lucius and Severus stood in Lucius's office, preparing to visit The Unicorn's Horn in Godric's Hollow.

"Whose hair did you use?" Lucius asked, looking at the two large vials of polyjuice potion standing on his desk.

"Just a couple of muggles from the local village," Severus replied. "There's no way Potter or Black will know the men so we're perfectly safe."

"Good," Lucius nodded, he wasn't over keen on turning into a muggle but it was only for a few hours. "And you understand the rest of the plan?" He checked, wanting to be sure the night ran smoothly.

"Yes, we pretend to be wizards who are fans of Potter and Black and want to know all about how they helped defeat Voldemort," Severus said, repeating the plan. "How will we know they're in the pub though? We don't want to waste the potion."

"We're going to the pub as ourselves and I've reserved a private room in the back. The landlady has agreed to let us know when Black arrives, it turns out Potter's on holiday so there's only Black to contend with," Lucius explained.

"How do you know the landlady can be trusted?" Severus asked. "We don't want her telling anyone what she's done tonight."

"She won't," Lucius replied confidently. "I've paid her a lot of money for the information and before we leave the pub later I'm planning on wiping her memory of ever meeting me."

"Good," Severus nodded.

"Come on, let's go," Lucius said, picking up one of the potions and putting it in his pocket.

Severus pocketed the second potion and the two men apparated to Godric's Hollow. When they arrived at The Unicorn's Horn, Lucius led Severus to the back of the building where they entered via a small door. Once in the pub Lucius led the way to a private room and moments after they arrived the landlady entered carrying two glasses of firewhisky.

"Any sign of Black?" Lucius asked the woman.

"Not yet, he'll be in soon I'd bet," the woman replied. "When do you want me to tell you he's here?"

"Come and tell us when he first arrives then come back once he's had a few drinks," Lucius replied. "And remember to give him double shots of everything so he gets drunk quicker, I'll settle the bill later tonight."

The landlady nodded before leaving the two men alone. For a while the two men made idle small talk as they waited for the news that Sirius was in the building. Barely half an hour had passed before the landlady returned to say that Sirius had arrived.

"Do you know what Athena plans on doing with this information?" Severus asked while they were waiting to begin their ruse.

"I have no idea," Lucius replied. "She didn't speak about her plans but I got the impression that she needed the truth before she could decide what to do."

"I wonder if she'll go public with who she really is," Severus mused. He had been trying to predict what Hermione would do now she knew the truth but he'd been unable to decide her next move.

"I think that depends how like her father she is," Lucius said. "Tom would never have stood by and let the Order get away with what they did, he would have wanted vengeance."

Severus was about to reply when the landlady returned and informed them that Sirius had already had a few drinks and would be ripe for approaching. Lucius thanked the landlady and dismissed her before he and Severus downed their polyjuice potion. Once the potion had worked and they were unrecognisable the two men left the back room and headed into the main bar.

Lucius was pleased to see that Sirius was sitting alone in a corner booth. Getting a couple of drinks Lucius and Severus approached the man in the corner.

"Are you Sirius Black?" Lucius questioned.

"Yeah, I'm Sirius," Sirius replied, looking up at the two strangers. "Who wants to know?"

"A couple of fans," Lucius replied. "We are hugely impressed with your part in bringing down You Know Who."

Sirius visibly preened at the compliment. "Pull up a chair, mates. I'll tell you all about how we defeated him."

Lucius and Severus exchanged a triumphant look as they slid into the booth opposite Sirius. As Sirius order three firewhiskys from the landlady he began telling stories from his time fighting against Voldemort. Occasionally Lucius or Severus would feign admiration for the man sitting opposite them but for the most part they sat and watched as Sirius proceeded to get steadily drunker.

After nearly an hour the polyjuice potion was reaching its limits so Severus and Lucius decided to act. Severus slipped over to the other side of the booth and began rooting through Sirius's mind while Lucius kept watch. As Lucius made sure no-one approached the table he saw Severus removing several memories and placing them in glass vials.

"I'm done," Severus said, placing the vials safely in his cloak pocket. "I just need to alter his memories of tonight."

After Severus had ensured that Sirius wouldn't remember the conversation the two men left the table. By this point Sirius was so drunk he didn't notice he was once again sitting alone. As they passed the bar Lucius threw the landlady a bag of galleons and asked to see her in the back room. Once in the back room Lucius wiped the landlady's memories of ever meeting him and Severus or the events that had conspired over the night.

"Come on, I want to view these before we give them to Athena," Lucius said as the landlady disappeared back towards the bar.

Lucius and Severus then apparated back to the manor where they immediately went into Lucius's study. Both men stopped in surprise when they found Narcissa sitting behind Lucius's desk.

"Cissa, what are you doing here?" Lucius asked.

"I want to know what's going on," Narcissa replied. "I'm not stupid, I know you two are up to something and I want to know what."

Shutting the door behind them, Lucius began to explain what they were doing and who they were doing it for.

"You mean you have memories of the night Tom and Adelaide were killed?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes, we were just going to look at them," Lucius said, getting out his pensieve. "Do you want to come with us?"

Narcissa looked hesitant but eventually agreed to accompany her husband and friend into the pensieve. She knew witnessing that night would be hard but it was time they knew what really happened.

Once the pensive was settled on Lucius's desk Severus poured the memories into the stone basin. Severus was just about to immerse himself into the memories when Lucius suddenly stopped him.

"Where's Draco?" Lucius asked his wife. "I don't want him coming in and disturbing us."

"He's in his room," Narcissa said. "I wouldn't worry about him disturbing us he's going to see Athena again tonight."

"What do you mean again?" Lucius asked. "I wasn't aware he'd seen her since the day she was first here."

"Have you not noticed how happy he's been for the last few days?" Narcissa questioned. "She wrote to him a few days ago and he's spent every night since then with her."

"They better be using protection, I don't want to become a grandfather just yet," Lucius muttered, turning back to the pensieve.

"Since Draco won't be an issue, perhaps we can continue," Severus suggested.

"Lets," Lucius said, gesturing for Severus to go first.

Severus immersed himself into the pensieve and within seconds Narcissa was at his side, a few seconds later and Lucius was also present. For the next hour or so the three watched mainly in silence as the night of Tom and Adelaide's death unfolded, the only time someone spoke was when Severus answered a question that was asked of him. By the time the memories were finished and they were all back into the study everyone was appalled by what they had witnessed, the truth was way more horrifying than they had ever imagined.

"Are we really going to show Athena that?" Narcissa asked, breaking the silence that had descended in the room.

"It's what she wanted," Lucius sighed, he wasn't happy with showing a young girl exactly how her parents had been killed but he had made a promise. "I promised I would try my best to get her the truth."

"Can't you say you failed?" Narcissa asked. "Seeing that could destroy her. No-one should have to watch their parents murdered while they sleep."

"I wish she didn't have to see it, but we promised her that we would always be there for her and tell her the truth," Lucius said. "She deserves to know what really happened that night."

"I guess," Narcissa sighed. "I just hate the fact she has to see something so brutal."

"I know, but we'll be there for her after she's witnessed the memory," Lucius said, putting his arm around his wife.

As Lucius comforted his wife Severus stood up to leave, what he had witnessed had shaken him also and he really wanted to go home to think.

"I'll be leaving now. Let me know what happens when Athena sees the memories. I'm also here when you decide it's time to retaliate," Severus said to Lucius. He knew there was no way Lucius wouldn't act after the horror they'd just witnessed.

"Thank you, Severus," Lucius said to his friend. "We'll talk soon."

Severus said his goodbyes and left the couple alone. For a long while Lucius and Narcissa remained in the study discussing what would happen next. While Lucius agreed not to act until they had shown the memories to Hermione, he also swore that whatever the young witch decided he would gain vengeance for Tom and Adelaide. His friends had been murdered while they slept and their young daughter deliberately snatched, there was no way he was letting that go unpunished.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N – Before we begin, I just want to clarify something regarding Sirius after I received a review for the last chapter where someone was assuming he was an Auror. He's not, if he was I would have said so, there's no need to assume anything in my stories as I always lay out the facts.**

 **I know from reading reviews on other stories that there does seem to be a theory that both Sirius and James were Aurors, but it's a one I've never found any evidence of. It certainly wasn't mentioned in the actual books, or even hinted at. I'm not saying that somewhere there's not something saying they were Aurors that I haven't read, but I've certainly never found anything like it when I've been checking facts for various stories. In fact everything I've read about Sirius and James contradicts them being Aurors as they seemed to have very little regard to the law.**

 **So in my stories neither Sirius or James are Aurors, unless I specifically say so in a certain story. So just in case there's anyone else assuming things I just wanted to categorically say that in Goddess of Vengeance neither of them are Aurors – therefore have no training in occulmency, which was why Severus was able to get Sirius's memories without too much fuss.**

 **As for this chapter – the memories Hermione views are from the first chapter, so I haven't focused on them too much as people have already read what happened and I didn't want to just be repeating myself.**

* * *

Hermione neatly placed her packed bag and jacket on her bed before leaving her bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind herself. Hermione then headed down stairs to where her parents were checking they had everything for their weekend. Hermione's parents were going to a dental convention in Brighton for the weekend while Hermione was heading to Malfoy Manor to spend the weekend with her boyfriend and his parents.

Hermione's parents had no idea she was also going away for the weekend, they thought their daughter was going to spend the weekend at home. When she was younger Hermione had always attended the conferences with her parents, once she had started school she usually spent the weekend with either Harry or Ron's family. Since both of her friends families were still on holiday Hermione had managed to convince her parents she would be perfectly fine on her own, the fact that she was nearly eighteen and very responsible had meant her parents had agreed to her staying home alone easily.

When she first heard about the conference Hermione had originally planned on inviting Draco to spend the weekend at her house but when he had shown up a few days ago with the news Lucius had the information she wanted she changed her plans. The plan was now for Hermione to spend the weekend at the manor, dealing with the information Lucius provided and getting to know more about her parents. Hermione was also going to mention her plan of getting vengeance to Lucius, in the hope he would help. Hermione knew that while she and Draco could cause some damage themselves Lucius was much better placed to inflict serious harm to the Order.

"Okay sweetie, we're off," Jean said, hugging Hermione goodbye. "Call us if you need anything."

"She'll be fine," Richard told his fussing wife. "We'll be back Monday lunch time, be good," he said, addressing Hermione.

"I will," Hermione smiled. "See you on Monday."

Jean fussed over Hermione for a few more minutes before the Grangers finally departed. Hermione stood in the doorway watching her parent's car driving out of sight before she turned to head back upstairs to grab her bag. Hermione had just began to ascend the stairs when she heard a noise in the front room, pulling out her wand she tiptoed towards the sound.

"What the hell," Hermione exclaimed, spotting the source of the noise. "What are you doing here and how long have you been here?"

"It's nice to see you too," Lucius responded, fully removing the disillusionment charm from himself. "And to answer your questions I came to see your parents and I've been here a while."

"Why were you speaking with my parents?" Hermione asked worriedly. She didn't want her parents knowing who she really was in case they said something to the Potters or Weasleys and her plan for vengeance was ruined. "And why were you hiding?"

"I was hiding so your parents didn't see me," Lucius explained. "After our talk I wiped their memories of ever meeting me."

"Why talk to them, then wipe their memories of the talk?" Hermione questioned, wondering what Lucius was up to.

"I needed some information from them," Lucius replied. "I promise I'll explain later, but for now I might as well take you back to the manor."

"Thanks, I'll get my bag," Hermione said, summoning her bag and jacket.

Once Hermione had her bag and jacket she held onto Lucius as he apparated them directly into the manor. Hermione knew the wards of the manor had been altered to accept her but if she had come alone she would have had to apparate into the grounds, only members of the family could apparate directly into the manor. Hermione knew this from the time Draco had brought her to the house the first time, the only reason he hadn't brought them straight into the house was because Hermione had specifically asked to see his house from the outside before she entered for the first time.

Hermione recognised the room they had arrived in as the front room in which her first meeting with Draco's parents took place. She and Lucius had barely arrived before two house elves appeared in front of them.

"Dobby, go and find Narcissa and Draco and tell them our guest has arrived," Lucius said to the first elf.

"Yes, Master." Dobby bowed low before disappearing with a crack.

"Misty, take Hermione's bag and place it in Draco's room," Lucius told the elf before turning to a surprised looking Hermione. "I take it you would rather stay in Draco's room, it'll save the pair of you the hassle of having to sneak about the place in the middle of the night."

Hermione blushed at Lucius's words, causing the older wizard to laugh at her embarrassment. Hermione was quite surprised by Lucius's relaxed attitude towards her and Draco sharing a bed, she knew that technically they were adults and could do as they wished but she had still expected some sort of parental resistance. Hermione knew her own parents wouldn't have entertained the idea of letting Draco stay over in her room and she had assumed that his parents would be the same.

Luckily for Hermione, Draco and Narcissa chose that moment to enter the front room, saving her from more embarrassment.

"It's lovely to see you again, Athena," Narcissa said, embracing Hermione. "Sorry, Hermione," she amended, remembering what Lucius had said about using not Hermione's given name just yet.

"It's nice to see you too, Mrs Malfoy," Hermione responded with a smile. "And don't worry about the name. I know I said I'd rather keep the name Hermione but I don't mind if you call me Athena."

"Thank you, dear," Narcissa smiled, relieved that she could keep using the name Athena. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get away with the name Hermione. "And please, call me Narcissa."

Hermione agreed before turning to her boyfriend. Draco greeted her with a smile and a quick peck on the cheek. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the restrained nature of Draco's greeting, normally he would have given her a proper kiss but in his parents presence he had clearly decided it wasn't the wisest move.

"Shall we all have some tea?" Narcissa asked. "It's a lovely day, we can go and sit in the garden."

Hermione was itching to know what Lucius had found out, although she was here for the entire weekend and had plenty of time to discuss her plans. "That would be great. Draco says the gardens are pretty spectacular."

"They are," Narcissa smiled. The gardens of the manor were her pride and joy and she could spend hours outside in the summer. "I'll give you the guided tour over the weekend."

"That would be nice," Hermione replied as they made their way to the gardens for mid-morning tea.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

"You don't have to do this, Athena," Narcissa said, moving to stand beside Hermione.

Hermione was currently staring at the stone pensieve that was sitting on Lucius's desk. Lucius had just poured the memories into the basin, ready for her to view them. Over lunch Lucius had explained about the memories and how he had gained them. Both Lucius and Narcissa had offered to tell Hermione what they contained but she was determined to see for herself what had happened the night her parents were killed and she was kidnapped.

"Is it really that bad?" Hermione asked Narcissa. She had noticed that the older witch was particularly keen on trying to stop her from viewing the memories.

"Watching your parents getting killed is something no-one should have to see," Narcissa replied. "But I admit events were a lot more shocking than I had anticipated."

"I appreciate your concern Narcissa, but I have to do this," Hermione said to the older witch.

"It'll be okay, mother. Hermione won't be alone, I'm going to be with her the entire time," Draco said, taking hold of Hermione's hand.

"Good," Narcissa said, pleased that Hermione wouldn't be alone when she viewed the memories.

"We'll leave you to it," Lucius said, gesturing to his wife to leave the room with him. "We'll be in the front room when you're done."

"Thank you," Hermione said before she turned back to the pensieve sitting on Lucius's desk.

Narcissa gave Hermione a quick hug before she followed her husband out of the study. Once they were alone Hermione led Draco to the pensieve and together they emerged themselves into the memories.

When they landed in the memories Hermione took a look around the room they found themselves in, in the centre of the room was a large table with lots of people gathered around it. Hermione recognised a few of the people in the room despite having no idea where exactly they were. The fact that Dumbledore was standing at the head of the table getting ready to address the room had Hermione confident they were about to witness a meeting of The Order of the Phoenix.

Draco and Hermione stood silently as Dumbledore began speaking, neither were surprised when he mentioned attacking Hermione's father. A mention of a prophecy however had the pair confused.

"What's he talking about? What prophecy?" Hermione asked.

"I have no idea," Draco replied. "Although I'm guessing it concerns your father in some way."

Hermione nodded as the pair continued to listen to the conversation. When Snape's name was mentioned as being a spy neither Hermione nor Draco were surprised. Lucius had explained Severus's part in events, he had also explained that he was now firmly on their side once again.

As Hermione listened to the plans being made she kept watching the people she knew, waiting for them to protest against Dumbledore's plan. Hermione was disappointed when no-one really argued against the headmaster, apart from a few feeble protests they all nodded along and seemed content with the plans. Hermione was still struggling to reconcile the fact that not even Molly and Lily had argued against the plans when the meeting ended and the room disappeared.

As the room they had been standing in disappeared, Hermione and Draco found themselves standing outside a large house in the middle of the night. They listened as Dumbledore gave out final instructions before splitting the group, taking James, Sirius and Arthur with him and leaving Frank and Remus outside to keep guard. Because the memories were from Sirius, Hermione and Draco found themselves following the group that headed towards the property.

As they watched Dumbledore effortlessly break into the house both Hermione and Draco wondered why Voldemort didn't have tighter security. It was obvious from the way Dumbledore broke the wards and knew where he was going once inside the house that he had been planning his night-time attack for quite a while and had good knowledge of the house and its security.

As Hermione and Draco followed the men upstairs Hermione tried to look around at the house she should have grown up in, unfortunately it was too dark for her to see anything too clearly. It wasn't until the men stopped briefly outside a door that Hermione realised that she had heard nothing from the occupants of the house, they seemed oblivious to the fact there were people trespassing on their property. Hermione was still wondering when her parents were going to awaken and start fighting when Dumbledore opened the door and the men quietly entered the bedroom.

Draco realised what was going to happen before Hermione and held tightly onto his girlfriend's hand. Once in the bedroom the moonlight from the window illuminated the sleeping couple and Draco knew they weren't going to wake. As Dumbledore and James raised their wands Hermione realised what was going to happen. Seconds before two killing curses were performed Hermione turned and buried her head in Draco's chest.

Draco stood with his arms wrapped securely around Hermione as Dumbledore and James killed her parents in cold blood. Even when Dumbledore announced he was off to kidnap her as a baby, Hermione remained firmly in Draco's arms. Draco watched as the three remaining men trashed the house and staged a fight, all the time holding Hermione in his arms.

It wasn't until the scenery changed and they found themselves back with the Order that Hermione raised her head and looked up. Draco could see the tears silently falling down her cheeks so he gently brushed them away and wrapped his arm securely around her waist. Hermione smiled gratefully at Draco before she returned her attention back to the room. She then watched appalled as they celebrated her father's death, even Dumbledore announcing that a woman and a child had also been killed barely dented the celebrations.

The only consolation for Hermione was witnessing Snape's reaction. When Lucius had explained about the Potions Professor being with the Order before turning back to the dark Hermione had been sceptical. She was worried that Snape would return to Dumbledore and inform him of what she knew but watching his horrified reaction Hermione was pretty sure that Snape wouldn't betray her.

When the scene flickered again Hermione and Draco expected to find themselves expelled from the pensieve and back in Lucius's study but instead they found themselves back in the first room they had visited. Instead of the full Order being present it was just Dumbledore, the Potters, the Weasleys and Sirius.

Hermione was just about to voice her puzzlement as to why they were witnessing a memory that clearly wasn't from the night of her abduction when Dumbledore began to speak. Quickly she realised that he was explaining what had happened to her after he had taken her from her home in the dead of night. Hermione knew her questions about how much the Potters and Weasleys knew about her were about to be answered.

When the prophecy was mentioned yet again Hermione got the impression it was more about her than Voldemort. Before she had the chance to mention it to Draco however she heard Dumbledore mention her muggle father's name. Hermione felt more tears fall as Dumbledore explained how he had given her to a squib and his wife to raise as a muggle, now she had more questions about what her parents knew of her true identity.

Hermione was still trying to get her head round the fact her parents had been in on Dumbledore's plan all this time when the headmaster started explaining how he planned on manipulating her future. She listened in horror as Dumbledore planned her friendship with Harry and Ron while he plotted to keep her away from Draco. Hermione immediately sensed there was a special reason he wanted her away from Draco but unfortunately they didn't elaborate any further.

By the time Dumbledore finished speaking and the memories dissolved, Hermione was only just beginning to realise how much he had manipulated her over the years. What was worse than that though was finding out the Potters and Weasleys had done the same thing. Everything they had done, befriending her and helping her adjust to the wizarding world, had all been on Dumbledore's orders.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked his girlfriend. He had been quite shaken himself by what he had witnessed and could only imagine how terrible it would have been for Hermione.

"Not really," Hermione admitted, looking up at Draco with tear filled eyes.

"Do you want to go and rest before dinner?" Draco asked. "I'm sure my parents will understand."

"I'd like that, but first I want to ask your father a few questions," Hermione replied, a dark look flashing in her pain filled eyes. Even though she'd already thought about revenge on the people involved in her kidnapping and her parents murders, she now knew it was what she needed to do in order to be able to move on with her life as she would never be able to just sit back and let what happened to her parents go unavenged.

Draco nodded and took Hermione to the front room where they found Lucius and Narcissa waiting anxiously for them. Narcissa immediately rushed forward and wrapped Hermione in her arms, causing the younger witch to break down in tears. Narcissa spent a good five minutes comforting Hermione before they all sat down and began to discuss what Hermione and Draco had witnessed.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Lucius said. "We had no idea that Tom and Adelaide had been killed so callously. If I had known I would have retaliated a long time ago."

"We can retaliate now," Hermione said darkly.

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked, wondering if the young witch meant to gain revenge for her parent's deaths. He certainly hoped so as he was eager to see just what the daughter of The Dark Lord was capable of.

"I'll explain over dinner. For now I have a couple of questions to ask," Hermione said, refusing to discuss her plans for revenge when she was still digesting what she had seen and heard over the course of the afternoon and now had some more decisions to make in regards to people she'd always thought she could trust. "They kept mentioning a prophecy. Do you know anything about that?"

"Not until recently," Lucius replied. "According to Severus, Dumbledore learnt of the prophecy around the time of your birth. He only told me of it when I revealed your true identity to him a few weeks ago."

"Why didn't he mention it after my parent's deaths?" Hermione asked.

"He thought you were dead," Lucius explained. "He wasn't trying to keep it from me, he just didn't think about mentioning it as you weren't around."

"What does the prophecy say?" Draco asked. "I'm assuming it has something to do with Hermione."

"Actually it has something to do with you both," Narcissa said. Lucius had told her about the prophecy when Severus had told him about it.

"The prophecy speaks of a powerful girl who is the spawn of the dark, with her she brings war and wisdom." Lucius paused slightly, noticing that both Hermione and Draco seemed to have made the connection with Hermione's birth name. "The prophecy then states the girl will rule the world with her dragon at her side."

Hermione turned to face Draco, immediately realising why Dumbledore and the Order were so keen on keeping her away from Draco. She was also wondering if that was why her friends and their families were so against Slytherins and used any opportunity to put them down. Now she knew the truth Hermione could clearly see that right from when she met the Potters and Weasleys they had been trying to turn her against Slytherins.

"That's why they attacked wasn't it?" Hermione asked, turning her attention back to Lucius. "They were scared the prophecy would come true."

"It certainly looks that way," Lucius said. "I'm sure eventually they would have launched an attack against Tom but I actually think the main objective of that night was to get to you."

"Yes, get to me and place me with a squib who was told to raise me as a muggle," Hermione responded bitterly. Her parent's potential betrayal was proving to be the hardest and most painful to deal with and her heart was breaking at the thought of the loving couple who had raised her being liars. "Do you know how much my parents know? Is that what you were doing there this morning?" She asked Lucius, hoping he could tell her something that would help make her feel better.

"Yes, that's what I was doing there," Lucius replied with a nod, impressed Hermione had immediately came to the correct conclusion. "As for what they know, you shouldn't be too hard on them. They didn't know who your real parents were."

"What did they know?" Hermione asked. "Surely Dumbledore told them something? They at least knew I was a witch."

"The night you were taken Dumbledore showed up at their house with you. He said that your parents had been killed and that you were in danger in the wizarding world. He asked them to raise you as a muggle and keep you safe. They thought they were doing the right thing, especially as they knew about the war. They had no idea you had been kidnapped, and your parents brutally murdered by the man who gave you to them," Lucius explained. "I looked through a lot of their memories and they genuinely love you. The only thing they've ever lied to you about is the fact they've always known you were a witch."

Hermione breathed a huge sigh of relief, the thought of her parents also been in on Dumbledore's plan had been painful but at least now she knew they were only doing what they thought was right. She was also glad to know that they genuinely loved her, no matter what happened she wanted to maintain a relationship with the loving couple that had raised her and that she loved deeply.

"I'm going to show Hermione the manor," Draco announced, pulling his exhausted girlfriend off the sofa. "Then she's going to rest before dinner."

"Dinner's at the usual time," Narcissa said with a small smile, understanding Hermione's need to rest after what she'd witnessed in the pensieve.

"And I've invited Severus," Lucius added. "I hope you don't mind." He aimed his last sentence to Hermione. He'd noticed earlier that she was disbelieving that Severus was really on their side but he was hoping the memories would have helped her place a bit of trust in his friend.

"Not at all," Hermione said before Draco escorted her out of the room.

Draco offered to show Hermione around the manor but she refused, all she wanted to do was lie down and think about what she had discovered. When Draco mentioned not knowing which guest room she was occupying Hermione took great pleasure in informing her boyfriend that she was staying with him. Draco looked thrilled with the idea and quickly hurried them to his bedroom.

Hermione barely paid attention to Draco's large bedroom as she flopped onto the enormous four poster bed. Curling up on the black, silk sheets, Hermione asked Draco to stay with her, although she made it clear she wasn't ready to talk about what had happened yet. Draco lay on his bed and wrapped Hermione in his arms as the witch thought about everything she had discovered.

Hermione couldn't help but focus her attention on the small group of people who knew the truth about her. Not only had two of them killed her parents but then they had all manipulated her and deliberately set out to make sure she stayed on the light side. Ironically though their actions had awoken something dark in Hermione, now all she wanted was to see the people who ruined her life suffer.


	11. Chapter 11

Hermione finished pinning up her long hair before returning to Draco's bedroom to dress for dinner. After spending most of the afternoon in Draco's room the blond had eventually convinced Hermione to let him give her a tour of the manor. After a tour of the manor, Draco and Hermione then returned to Draco's room to get ready for dinner.

When Hermione emerged from the en-suite bathroom she found that Draco was already dressed and was standing out on his balcony. Hermione pulled on the black dress she had laid out on Draco's bed before slipping on her heels and joining her boyfriend on the balcony.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked as Hermione appeared at his side. "If you don't feel like it we don't have to go down to dinner."

"I want to go," Hermione replied. "Your parents have been kind enough to allow me to stay the weekend so I don't want to be rude. Besides I want them to like me."

"They already like you," Draco pointed out.

"I also want to discuss my plans for revenge," she added.

Draco turned slightly so he could see Hermione properly. "Are you still certain about that? Once father is involved he won't back off, there will be no changing your mind after tonight."

"I know, Hermione replied, her face set in steely determination. "But after what I witnessed this afternoon I want vengeance more than anything."

"As long as you're sure, I'm with you all the way," Draco said, lightly pecking Hermione on the cheek. "Should we go downstairs?"

Hermione nodded and took hold of Draco's hand. Together the couple headed downstairs to the formal dining room. When they arrived they found Severus Snape had only just arrived himself and the adults were just settling into their seats. After greetings were exchanged everyone sat down and dinner was served.

For the first part of dinner, conversation was stilted and slightly awkward. Severus wasn't sure what to call Hermione and was clearly worried in case she held his former allegiance to the Order against him. By the time dessert was served Hermione had reassured Severus she trusted him so the potions master was finally more relaxed and at ease.

"Are we ever going to discuss your comment about retaliation?" Lucius finally asked Hermione when there was a slight lull in the conversation. He'd been dying to ask all evening but it wasn't until near the end of the meal that Lucius had found an appropriate opportunity to twist the subject towards Hermione's mysterious comment.

"Yes, I definitely want to discuss it," Hermione smirked.

Lucius, Narcissa and Severus all exchanged a look at Hermione's smirk, she looked eerily like her father when she did that. There was also a glint of evil in her eyes that was pure Tom.

"Shall we retire to the front room, we can have a drink while we discuss things," Narcissa suggested. She had a feeling that Hermione was planning on revealing a plan for revenge and she wanted to ensure the plans wouldn't backfire and hurt the people she loved.

At Narcissa's suggestion everyone moved into the front room and settled down with a drink. Hermione and Draco sat on one of the sofas while Narcissa and Lucius occupied the second one and Severus had settled himself on the chair nearest the fireplace.

Hermione waited until everyone was settled before she spoke. "I want vengeance on Dumbledore and the Order. They need to pay for what they've done. I'm hoping you'll all help me."

"Of course we'll help," Lucius replied, checking that Narcissa was supportive. A small nod from his wife showed she was on-side and would help in any way she could.

"I'm in," Severus said when Hermione turned her attention to him. "I assume you've already got the beginnings of a plan."

"Yes, I do," Hermione smiled, surprised that Severus could read her so well. "I want the whole Order to suffer but I mainly want to concentrate on Dumbledore and all those that know what he did with me."

"Are you sure about that, Athena?" Narcissa asked. "You personally know everyone who knows about your true identity. They're your friends."

"No, they're not." Hermione shook her head stubbornly. "They befriended me on Dumbledore's orders to keep me on their side. They've done nothing but lie to me since I met them."

"What about Potty and the Weasel?" Draco asked, using his old nicknames for Hermione's two annoying friends. "I'm guessing they don't know who you really are. Can you really cope with turning on them?"

"I know if I target their parents they're both going to get hurt, but I can't help that," Hermione responded. It was actually Harry and Ron that were the only potential problems with her plan. "Their parents all had a part in Dumbledore's plan, James even killed my mother. I can't let them get away with that."

"Would it help if you knew how they felt about your kidnapping?" Lucius asked, a plan starting to form.

"Probably. I'm guessing with the way they're so against Slytherins they won't exactly be appalled by Dumbledore's actions. I don't want to just assume that though, I would quite like to know what they do think about what happened. But they don't know anything about me, I can't tell them the story as I'm not supposed to know," Hermione pointed out. "And I highly doubt their parents would tell them, they've kept my identity a secret for all this time."

"They might tell if they were forced into it," Lucius said. "You said you wanted the whole Order to suffer, well I can re-start the Death Eater attacks and focus on the Order."

"I like that," Hermione said. "But how does that force Dumbledore and the others into telling the truth to Harry and Ron?"

"I thought that with every attack we could leave the message we're looking for you," Lucius suggested. "Dumbledore and the others are going to worry about us knowing you're not really dead, they'll also have to explain what really happened to the rest of the Order. I think that will cause problems and unrest within the enemy camp."

Hermione nodded appreciatively at Lucius's ideas. She could already picture the turbulence it would cause amongst the Order when they discovered Dumbledore had lied to them. "It's a great plan so far, but I still don't get where Harry and Ron come into it."

"I'm getting there. Honestly, you're as impatient as Tom, he'd always try to rush me when I was plotting," Lucius chuckled, seeing more and more of Tom in his daughter. "As you say, I'm pretty sure they won't include your friends in the loop. That's why we launch an attack near to the school and make sure your little friends know the reason we're attacking."

"Potter and Weasley will not be able to resist asking for answers," Severus added, seeing the potential in Lucius's plan.

"I suppose it could work," Hermione mused. "It needs some more working out but it could get me what I need to know."

"Leave the details to me," Lucius said. "All you need to do is find out what your friends think of their parent's actions after they know what happened to you."

"Okay." Hermione nodded. "I want to do that quite quickly, I need to know Harry and Ron's reactions before I involve them any more than I have to. If they respond like I hope, I won't hurt them any more than necessary but if they respond like I fear they will, they'll find themselves a part of my plan."

"There's more to your plan?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes, the Death Eater attacks are for the rest of the Order but I plan on destroying the lives of everyone who knew what Dumbledore did," Hermione answered. "Plus Dumbledore and James killed my parents, they're going to pay the ultimate price for that."

"By the ultimate price, you mean death," Severus stated, surprised Hermione had embraced her dark side so easily.

"Yes, by the time school's over for the year Dumbledore and James will be dead. And Lily, Molly, Arthur and Sirius will all have their lives in tatters," Hermione said firmly. "I then intend to walk away and never have contact with any of them again."

"What are you planning on doing to them?" Draco asked, knowing his girlfriend already had the start of a plan for each of them.

"As I said, I want Dumbledore and James dead. Preferably the way they killed my parents," Hermione said, closing her eyes briefly as she thought about the awful way her parents lost their lives.

"Killing them in their beds is going to be difficult," Lucius said.

"I actually have the beginnings of a plan for both of them, but we can go into details later," Hermione reassured Lucius. "I also know how to destroy Lily and Molly. Unfortunately I have no idea on Sirius or Arthur, although if something could happen to Arthur that could also help Molly suffer."

"How about a werewolf attack?" Lucius asked, an evil grim forming on his face. "I know a werewolf, he's pretty vicious and would love the opportunity to attack the Order."

"Yeah, we could work with that," Hermione agreed with a nod. "Although we need a plan for Sirius."

"We'll think of something," Lucius promised. "What plans did you have for the women?"

"Well the way to destroy Molly is through her children. We can target them and make sure their entire lives fall apart. I don't want any of them killed or seriously hurt but there's plenty of other things we can do to them," Hermione said sombrely. She wasn't happy with targeting the Weasley children but she knew it was the best way to get to Molly. "That combined with Arthur's attack should have her a mess by the end of the year."

"What about Lily?" Severus asked. While his feelings for Lily had long since dispersed he was still sad about her being caught up in the plot for revenge.

"Well she'll have James's death to cope with, that'll be the start. I was then thinking after he was dead she could discover he was cheating on her," Hermione explained. "I'm sure we can fake a romance somehow."

"I'm sure we can," Lucius responded, knowing it would be easy to gain evidence of a fake affair.

"Are you alright with this, Severus?" Narcissa asked, noticing the dark haired man had gone quiet as Hermione explained her idea.

"Yes," Severus nodded. "I'm fine."

"Good." Hermione smiled at her potions professor, she knew they would probably need him as her plans kicked into action. "I know some plans need working on but at least we have the basics sorted."

"We have all summer to perfect them," Draco said to his girlfriend.

"Actually we don't," Hermione said. "Harry, Ron and their families are back off holiday next week. I'll be expected to spend time with them, then I'm going on holiday myself the last two weeks of the holidays. So after this weekend, I'll not be coming to the Manor as often."

"That could be a good thing," Lucius said. "We don't want anyone to know you know who you really are. So acting like nothing has changed is for the best."

"What about when the plan progresses, surely suspicion's going to fall on Athena," Narcissa said. "Dumbledore's going to have to wonder if she knows the truth."

"Don't worry, Narcissa, they're going to have no reason to doubt me," Hermione reassured her boyfriend's mother. "I actually have an idea that'll make them suspect me even less," she added, fidgeting nervously.

"What sort of an idea?" Draco asked his girlfriend. Her fidgeting had alerted him to the fact that whatever she had decided she wasn't comfortable with.

"I'll tell you later," Hermione said, grimacing at the thought of how Draco would react to her plan.

"Narcissa has a point," Severus said, interrupting whatever Draco was going to say next. "No matter how unlikely it seems that Hermione knows the truth, Dumbledore will investigate the possibility."

"He won't find anything," Hermione shrugged. "Draco and I have managed to keep our relationship a secret for years, we can manage one final year."

"It's too risky," Severus said. "I think before you return to school you both need to master occlumency."

"That's an excellent idea," Narcissa said. "They're both smart enough to pick it up easily and with both of us helping, they should be fine by the time they return to school."

"What's occlumency?" Hermione asked, never having heard of the term.

Narcissa and Severus explained the art of occlumency and why they felt Hermione and Draco should learn it. Both Hermione and Draco agreed it would be useful and they made plans to start developing their skills the next day.

After discussing occulemency for a while talk turned back to Hermione's plans for vengeance. For a few hours the five sat around, forming solid plans for the upcoming year. Hermione made it clear that everything had to happen throughout her and Draco's last year at school, by the time she left school she wanted to forget all about Dumbledore and the Order and concentrate on her future.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

"Are you going to tell me the idea you didn't want to mention downstairs?" Draco asked his girlfriend as he emerged from the bathroom.

"You won't like it," Hermione sighed. Ever since she had had the idea of how to appear even more innocent she knew it wasn't going to go down well with Draco.

"I gathered that," Draco muttered. "Although you hardly look keen yourself."

"I'm not," Hermione admitted. "But what I'm about to suggest will make the Order less likely to suspect I know the truth."

"What's your plan, then?" Draco asked, climbing into bed next to Hermione.

"I'm going to go out with Ron," Hermione said quietly.

"No." Draco shook his head stubbornly. "That's not happening."

"It'll only be pretend. If I'm dating Ron, no-one will suspect I'm behind everything that's going on," Hermione said, defending her idea.

"I get the reasoning behind it and it makes sense," Draco admitted. "What I don't like is the thought of the Weasel having his hands all over my girlfriend."

"His hands won't be all over me," Hermione insisted. "I can date Ron and not have to do more than occasionally kiss him."

"He's not going to settle for that," Draco snorted. "No-one in their right mind would date you and settle for the occasional kiss."

"Ron will," Hermione insisted. "You're forgetting that he sees me as his nerdy, bookworm friend who has no experience with boys. I can play up that image and tell him I want to take things slowly."

"I still don't like it," Draco moaned. "Even an occasional kiss with the Weasel is too much."

"You're not jealous are you?" Hermione teased, suddenly realising the perfect way to get Draco to agree to her idea.

"As if," Draco snorted.

"You have no reason to be jealous," Hermione said as she moved to straddle Draco. "I have no interest in Ron whatsoever. He's just providing me with a cover."

"That better be all he's doing," Draco muttered.

Hermione smiled at Draco's attitude, she always loved to see his jealous possessive side. "How about I show you who I really want," she whispered in his ear.

Draco's murmur of agreement turned into a moan as Hermione rocked her hips against his as her lips descended onto his neck. As Hermione began kissing her way down his body Draco knew that he would go along with whatever plan she decided. He absolutely loathed the idea of her pretending to date the Weasel but he knew that it was him she loved and no fake relationship with a ginger tosspot was going to destroy what they had.


	12. Chapter 12

Hermione picked up the packed bag that was sitting on her bed, thinking about how a week ago she had packed the bag for a weekend at Malfoy Manor and now it was packed for a weekend at The Burrow. Hermione had mostly enjoyed her weekend at the manor but she was dreading her weekend at The Burrow, despite having spent numerous weekends there in the past.

Hermione's stay at the manor had consisted of developing her plans for revenge further, learning about her parents and learning occlumency. Severus and Narcissa were determined her and Draco needed to master occlumency so they practised most days. When they weren't practising Hermione spent her time learning everything she could about her parents. Evenings were when the plans for vengeance were more solidly formed and the only time Hermione got to spend alone with Draco was on a night once they had gone to bed.

In the week since her visit to the manor, Hermione had seen Draco a couple of times but she hadn't been able to return to his house. Earlier that week both Harry and Ron had returned from holiday and she had already received several owls from them. From the sounds of the letters the boys had already seen each other and were making plenty of plans for the next few weeks.

Hermione would have loved to say she was too busy to see them but ever since she met the two families she had always spent plenty of time with them over the holidays. Since Hermione wanted to keep her head down and not arouse any suspicions she knew she would have to act like normal and visiting Harry and Ron regularly was normal. She also had her plan to get together with Ron to put into action, she was hoping they would be together before they returned to school.

When Hermione arrived downstairs she found her mother waiting impatiently by the fire. Despite finding out Jean and Richard Granger weren't her biological parents Hermione still loved the couple that had brought her up and still thought of them as her mum and dad.

"There you are," Jean said as her daughter appeared. "Come on, we'll be late."

Hermione rolled her eyes at her mother's behaviour. Jean was anxious to get to The Burrow as she was planning on staying a few hours and having a coffee with Molly and Lily as the three women caught up. Hermione was still unsure if the Weasleys and Potters friendship with her parents was genuine or if it was another way of making sure she spent plenty of time with them, keeping her away from the dark.

"You go first," Hermione said as she grabbed a handful of floo powder from the small box on top of the fireplace.

Jean did as her daughter suggested, grabbing some floo powder and disappearing in a flash of green flames. On days when Hermione and her family would be travelling to either The Burrow or Godric's Hollow, Arthur ensured that their fireplace was connected to the floo network and ensured that her parents were able use it.

Hermione took a deep breath, steeling herself for the weekend ahead before stepping into the fire herself. Dropping the floo powder into the flames she called out her destination and was soon swirling away in a mass of flames. Hermione stepped out of the flames at the other end and brushed the soot off her clothes.

"Hermione, dear. How nice to see you." Hermione barely had time to react before Molly Weasley had enveloped her in a smothering hug. "You're sharing with Ginny, as normal. Go and take your bag upstairs then you can go and find the others. I think they're down by the lake."

"Thanks," Hermione managed to spit out before bolting from the room.

Hermione was overwhelmed by the feelings of hate that had accompanied Molly's hug. All week she had been mentally preparing to see the people who had hurt her so much but the reaction she felt towards them was much more potent than she had imagined. Hermione realised that she was going to have to work really hard to act normally around the Weasleys and Potters, it wasn't going to be as easy as she had thought to behave normally now she knew the truth.

Hermione spent a few minutes in Ginny's room, calming herself down, before she went back downstairs. Heading through the kitchen she briefly greeted Lily as she went in search of her friends. The lake was a small body of water just beyond the boundary lines of The Burrow, and Hermione had spent many a hot summer's day splashing in the cool water with her best friends.

As she approached the lake Hermione spotted Ron and Harry in the middle of the lake while Ron's sister, Ginny, watched on from the grass. Harry and Ron were busy splashing each other while Ginny sat laughing at their childish antics. Hermione felt a large pang of guilt for the hurt her friends would suffer but she supressed it as she remembered what their parents had done and the reasons she was seeking revenge.

"Hermione!" Ginny's squeal drew Hermione's attention back to the lake.

Hermione looked up as the younger girl flew at her and hugged her tightly. Hermione hugged Ginny back and as the two girls parted, Hermione turned her attention to her best friends who were heading her way. Harry reached them first and embraced Hermione in a wet hug. When Hermione hugged Ron she lingered more than necessary, hoping the redhead would once again act on his feelings and pursue her.

"Ugh, I'm soaking," Hermione moaned, looking down at her wet jeans as she finished hugging her friends. "Thanks, guys."

"A bit of water never hurt anyone, 'Mione," Harry laughed.

"Clearly you've never seen The Wizard of Oz," Hermione retorted as she got her wand out and dried her jeans.

The other three all laughed, knowing Hermione knew they had all seen her favourite childhood film. Hermione had introduced her friends to films early on in their friendship and over the years they had seen almost every DVD Hermione owned.

"I still think that film is an insult to witches," Ginny said as the four of them settled down on the grass. "She's so ugly and green. What sort of a witch is green?"

"A bad one," Hermione replied. She was still struggling with her guilt and hoped as time passed she could find it easier to cope.

"Yeah, a Slytherin," Harry laughed. "Isn't ironic that even muggles know that bad witches are associated with green."

As Ron and Ginny laughed with Harry, Hermione found her guilt easing slightly. Hermione had heard jokes like that for years and while she had never liked them, they now just made her feel angry.

"So guys, how was your holidays?" Hermione asked, wanting to get off the subject of evil Slytherins before it got out of hand. Her friends were quite capable of bemoaning the existence of Slytherins for hours and Hermione wasn't in the mood to listen to it.

"Great," Ron beamed, launching into a speech about what he had gotten up to on holiday.

Ginny joined in with Ron's stories and the redheaded siblings talked for nearly an hour about their holiday. When they were finished Harry told a few tales of his own and asked about how Hermione had spent the first part of her summer.

"I've spent most of my time reading," Hermione shrugged, knowing she couldn't tell the truth and reveal she'd met her boyfriend's family and launched an evil scheme against the people she once trusted.

"Typical 'Mione. No wonder you're so pale," Ron laughed, even though he himself was more red than tanned after his holidays.

"I'll get a tan in Greece," Hermione responded, biting her tongue so she didn't make a flippant remark about Ron's lack of ability to tan. If she wanted him to ask her out she didn't want to insult him and get him off side.

"Yeah, I forgot your holiday wasn't until the end of summer." Ron's face fell as he remembered that Hermione's parents couldn't get time off work until the end of August.

"Two whole weeks in Greece, I'm really looking forward to it," Hermione smiled, genuinely excited about her holiday. "There's so much history to the place. Just think of all the old temples and things to explore."

"I'm sure it'll be great," Harry interrupted Hermione before she could really get talking. Ancient Greece was a passion of Hermione's and she could talk for hours about it. "But we need to make the most of our time together. We've got about three weeks to have as much fun as possible."

As Harry and Ron started making plans for the rest of summer, Hermione lay back in the grass. She'd only been lying down for a few minutes when she felt Ginny settle down beside her. Hermione briefly smiled at the redhead before she returned to staring at the white, fluffy clouds in the sky.

"I'm so pleased you're here, Hermione," Ginny whispered. "I thought I was going to have to kill Ron, he's been driving me mad."

"What, more than normal?" Hermione laughed, she knew the two youngest Weasley siblings often had a tempestuous relationship.

"Yes, normally Fred and George are around to take some of his attention but at the minute we're kind of stuck just the two of us. Well, until Harry comes round then I have two boys to annoy me," Ginny explained.

"Where are Fred and George?" Hermione asked.

Since leaving school just over a year ago the twins had been trying to set up their own business, using their clever tricks and inventions. Lack of funds seemed to be hindering the pair and every time Hermione had seen them they claimed to be on the verge of starting their business.

"They've finally got started with the business. They've decided to buy a shop in Diagon Alley and turn it into a joke shop," Ginny said.

"How did they get the money?" Hermione asked. "I thought they were struggling for finance."

"Mum and Dad got a loan from the bank and invested, they also talked Sirius into investing," Ginny explained. "That was enough for them to get the shop but I think they're still looking for a bigger investment. At the minute they can run a smallish shop but you know Fred and George, always wanting to do more."

"You've got to admire their ambition," Hermione murmured.

As Ginny continued to talk about Fred and George's new venture, Hermione was thinking about how it could play to her advantage. If the twins were looking for new finance it would be easy for Lucius to secretly provide the money then at the right time pull out of the deal, leaving the twins and their investors in a mess. Hermione knew the Weasleys weren't the richest family and if Molly and Arthur's investment in the twins business was scuppered it could create havoc in their lives.

Hermione filed the information away to relay to Lucius at a later date before turning her attention back to her friends. After spending another hour by the lake the four of them set off back to The Burrow, Ron was getting hungry and he was starting to become annoying with his constant grumbling.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Hermione sat under a large tree on the edge of the village green at Godric's Hollow. Harry and Ron were currently flying above her while she watched from the safety of the ground. Because Godric's Hollow was a wizarding village the boys were able to fly freely without worrying about being seen by passers-by.

As Hermione watched the two boys flying overhead she wondered what to do about Ron. Her subtle flirting the previous weekend at The Burrow had gone unnoticed and despite the longing looks he shot her way he was yet to make a move. Hermione was beginning to worry that her rejection the previous summer was preventing him from asking her out again.

She was beginning to think she would have to make the first move, but she had no idea how to do that. With her relationship with Draco it had been him who had initiated the change from friends to more than friends. Despite the fact that Hermione had developed feelings for the blond Slytherin long before he kissed her, she was aware she wouldn't have had the nerve to act on them.

Hermione was still lost in thought when she heard a loud yell from Harry. Looking up she spotted Ron hanging onto his broom by his fingertips. She wasn't sure what had happened but somehow her friend had been dislodged from his broom and was struggling to hold on. As Ron's fingers slipped off the wood, Hermione knew that Harry couldn't reach the redhead before he hit the ground. Even speeding on his firebolt Harry was too far away from Ron. Acting instinctively Hermione whipped out her wand and cast a cushioning charm on the ground, seconds before Ron landed with a thump.

Hermione took off running the few feet to Ron's side, arriving at the same time Harry swooped down from the air.

"Ron are you alright?" Harry asked. "What happened?"

"My arm hurts, I think it's broken," Ron moaned, clutching at his left arm.

"Harry go and get your mum, I'll stay with Ron," Hermione instructed, moving closer to her stricken friend.

Harry quickly obeyed Hermione, running off to his house a few streets away. Hermione considered shouting after him and telling him he would be quicker flying but she decided by the time he returned for the broom he would just be wasting more time.

"Does anywhere else hurt?" Hermione asked, checking Ron for more damage.

"Only my pride," Ron muttered. "I can't believe I fell off my broom, how embarrassing."

"How did you fell off?" Hermione asked. "Last time I looked up you were flying great."

"Do you really think I was flying great?" Ron asked, sounding pleased.

Hermione nodded and smiled. "Of course I do, you're a talented flyer, Ron."

"Thanks," Ron beamed then winced as he accidentally moved his arm.

"Come on, how did you fall off your broom then?" Hermione questioned.

"I was trying to get your attention," Ron mumbled, turning red. "I saw you watching earlier then you stopped paying attention. I was doing fancy moves in the hope you would see and start watching again."

"You didn't need to do fancy moves to get my attention, you already have it," Hermione said, sensing an opportunity to kick her plan into action.

"Really?" Ron asked hopefully. "Last year you said you only saw me as a friend."

"I did," Hermione said. Noticing the way Ron's head dropped she quickly hurried on with her spur of the moment speech. "But sometime over the course of last year, my feelings for you changed. I really missed you while you were away, and I didn't just miss you like a friend."

Ron was brightening considerably as Hermione spoke. "Does this mean you want to be more than friends?" he asked once she was finished talking.

Hermione nodded. "Yes. I mean, if that's what you want."

"It's what I want," Ron said. "I would kiss you but I don't really want to move my arm," he added hopefully.

Hermione smiled before leaning over and gently pressing her lips to Ron's. Hermione kept the kiss as brief as she could, without Ron noticing her discomfort. Despite the kiss being a quick peck Hermione's whole body was screaming at her to stop, that she was betraying Draco. Hermione knew the bond was fighting against her kissing Ron, along with her own personal feelings of guilt as she kissed someone who wasn't the boy she was madly in love with.

"Wow," Ron murmured as Hermione moved back. "Does this mean you're my girlfriend, now?"

"Yes," Hermione said, forcing a smile. Pretending to date Ron was going to be a lot harder than she had anticipated if she was going to react so forcefully at only a tiny kiss. "I mean, if that's what you want."

"It's definitely what I want," Ron grinned. "Although I also want you to stop being so unsure of yourself, 'Mione. I've wanted this since fifth year, I want you. I don't want you to ever doubt that."

"I won't," Hermione said, smiling in relief as she saw Harry and Lily approaching. "Harry's coming with his mum," she told Ron.

"Good, my arm is killing me," Ron muttered. "There's only so much pain having a beautiful girl kissing you can take away."

Hermione blushed at Ron's words as Harry and Lily arrived. As Lily started to fix Ron's arm, Hermione had to once again deal with her guilt as Ron started to excitedly tell Harry what had happened while he was away.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

"I want to propose a toast," Richard Granger announced, gaining everyone's attention. He was currently hosting a barbeque in his back garden in honour of Hermione. "To my daughter, Hermione, Hogwarts new Head Girl."

"Hermione, Hogwarts new Head Girl," the assembled guests all cried.

Hermione smiled politely and tried to control her blush as everyone toasted her success. Hermione had known about the position even before her Hogwarts letter had arrived earlier that week. During her visit to the manor weeks ago, Severus had informed her and Draco of the disagreement regarding the choosing of the Head students. Hermione had been angry that Draco had been disregarded as Head Boy but Draco hadn't seemed bothered that he didn't get the title he rightly deserved. Even now Hermione was still bitter about Dumbledore's decision and she couldn't help but wish the barbeque was over.

Another reason Hermione was looking forward to the end of the barbeque was that it was her last night at home. The following day she and her parents were heading to Greece for two weeks. Hermione was looking forward to visiting the country she had taken an interest in when she was younger and leaving her friends behind, what she wasn't looking forward to was not being able to see Draco for the fortnight.

In the last three weeks Hermione had managed to visit the manor on a few occasions and Draco had paid her a night time visit as often as it was possible. Most of her time however was spent with her friends and their families. Since her and Ron had become a couple, Hermione noticed that Molly was making much more of a fuss of her, she clearly loved the idea of a love match between the pair and wasn't shy about letting Hermione know it. Hermione was fairly confident that her plan was already working, Molly was so pleased she was with Ron that she would never believe that it was Hermione behind what was about to unfold.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked, putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders as he came up beside her. "You're pretty quiet."

"I'm fine, I just hate being the centre of attention," Hermione replied, fighting the urge to remove Ron's arm from her shoulder. She was still trying to get used to his acts of affection and would often have to stop herself from shying away from him.

"Come on over here," Ron said, leading Hermione to a table where Harry, Ron, Fred and George were sitting. "Fred and George are telling us about their new investor."

Hermione had to hide the smirk as she sat down and listened to Fred and George tell them about the new investor they had met the previous day. Hermione knew the wizard in question was being paid by Lucius to front an investment and when the time was right he would renege on the deal. Hermione was surprised that Lucius had managed to move so fast but she had to admit her boyfriend's father was pretty keen on helping her with her plans.

Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon with her friends. She had discovered that while she felt guilty for how they were going to suffer it was easier than being around their parents. Hermione still hadn't managed to control the hate she felt whenever she was around one of the adults that knew the truth about her, she was constantly worried that she would snap and berate them for what they had done for her.

After the barbeque Hermione excused herself for the night, she told her parents she had some last minute packing to do. Hermione had already finished her packing she just wanted time to have a relaxing bath before Draco arrived, he was coming earlier than normal as it would be the last time they saw each other before school started. After a long soak Hermione wrapped a soft towel around herself before heading into her bedroom to get ready for her boyfriend's arrival, she'd picked out a green and silver lingerie set she knew Draco would love.

Hermione stopped in surprise as she entered her bedroom. "You're early," she pouted at the sight of her boyfriend already lying sprawled on the bed.

"Is that a problem?" Draco asked. "Surely it just means more time together."

"It does, but I'm not ready yet," Hermione said, thinking about the sexy underwear that was lying in her drawer.

"You look fine to me," Draco grinned, his eyes trailing over Hermione's towel clad body. "In fact, I think I prefer you in a towel."

"Why would you prefer me in a towel?" Hermione asked, walking over to the side of her bed. "I guarantee you would have loved what I was planning on wearing."

"I prefer you in a towel as it's easier to remove," Draco said, sitting up and pulling the towel away from Hermione's naked body. "And you're right I would have enjoyed seeing you in Slytherin coloured lingerie, but you can model it another time."

"How did you know what I was planning on wearing?" Hermione asked, wondering if Draco had practised legilimency on her. While both of them had mastered occlumency easily, Hermione had struggled with the reverse action while Draco had taken to it naturally.

"Your drawer was open when I arrived," Draco said, pointing to the partially open drawer over the other side of the room.

"It didn't mean you had to look," Hermione scolded.

"Of course it did, you know I'm nosey," Draco shrugged. He saw nothing wrong with nosing through a drawer if it was open, he actually saw nothing wrong with nosing through a closed drawer either but he only ever snooped through Hermione's belongings when they were out in the open.

"What if I had something private in there?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms and trying to look stern. The fact she was naked however was proving distracting and Hermione could already see Draco's interest in the conversation flagging as his eyes roamed over her body.

"If there was something private you would have shut the drawer," Draco retorted. "Now will you stop talking and come here."

"I don't know, I don't like to be bossed around," Hermione teased, moving slightly further away from the bed.

Hermione didn't get far as Draco suddenly lunged for her and dragged her onto the bed with him.

"If you stop talking, I'll show you how much I'm going to miss you," Draco whispered, pinning Hermione to the bed underneath him.

"I'd like that," Hermione whispered back, pulling Draco down into a searing kiss.

As the lovers made up for the fact they would be separated for two weeks, Hermione forgot all about her plans for revenge. As Draco expertly produced the most amazing feelings in Hermione, she forgot all about the troubling relationship she had begun with Ron as she worked on avenging her parent's deaths. Once school restarted her plans would be in full swing but for the minute she was content to revel in her lover's touch and forget all about the world outside her bedroom.


	13. Chapter 13

Platform Nine and Three Quarters was already bustling with activity as Hermione and her parents emerged from the barrier that linked the magical place with the muggle world. Despite the crowds Hermione's parents quickly spotted the Weasleys and the Potters and began to move in their direction.

Hermione followed her parents, immediately noticing the tension amongst her friend's families. Normally everyone was bright and cheerful at the start of the new school term but everyone looked much more sombre. The four adults were looking worried, their eyes darting around the platform as though they were expecting trouble. Harry, Ron and Ginny were also looking quite serious as they stood a few metres away from their parents, talking quietly as a trio.

Hermione had a pretty good idea what the tense atmosphere was relating to but as she and her parents approached the group she acted totally oblivious. Hermione knew the first of the Death Eater attacks would have occurred while she was on holiday, after much discussions Lucius had decided the best time to strike the first blow was when Hermione wasn't in the country, that way it would take longer for suspicion to fall on her involvement.

While her parents greeted the other adults, Hermione greeted her friends. Ginny and Harry gave her a quick hug as they said hello but Ron added a quick kiss to his hug.

"I've really missed you, 'Mione," Ron said, taking hold of Hermione's hand once he had hugged her. "Thanks for all the postcards, it was nice to know you still though of me even though you were off having fun."

"Of course I was thinking of you," Hermione replied. "I missed you a lot."

Ron beamed widely and was just about to lean in and kiss Hermione a second time when James and Arthur approached the teenagers.

"Come on, let's get you four aboard," James said, grabbing Harry and Hermione's trunks.

Arthur grabbed the trunks belonging to Ron and Ginny before the two men hurried the teenagers onto the train and settled them into a compartment. Hermione opened her mouth to question the odd behaviour but Harry leaned over and whispered that they would explain what was happening once the train set off.

Once the luggage was stowed in a compartment Arthur and James let the teenagers back into the aisle so they could wave to their parents. The moment Arthur and James disembarked and returned to the platform Hermione turned to her friends.

"What on earth is going on?" She asked. "That has never happened before."

"Things have never been as dangerous before," Harry replied cryptically.

"We'll explain once we return to the compartment," Ron said before Hermione had a chance to speak again. "It's not safe to speak out here, there's a chance the wrong people will hear," he added, glaring at a spot behind Hermione.

At first Hermione thought Ron was glaring at her but as his glare intensified and he started to grimace Hermione looked over her shoulder. Hermione immediately spotted the source of Ron's annoyance, heading in their direction were the hulking figures of Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione suspected it wasn't really Crabbe and Goyle that were bothering Ron, it was more likely the sight of the instantly recognisable head of platinum blond hair that was visible just behind the duo, that was the real problem to the redhead.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron spat as the blond and his bodyguards approached.

"That's really none of your concern, Weasel," Draco sneered at the redhead as his two goons pushed Ginny and Harry aside.

"Shove off and find a seat elsewhere," Harry piped up, annoyed at the way Crabbe had nearly sent him sprawling to the floor. "You're not welcome up this end of the train."

"I wasn't aware this was your train, Potter," Draco spat. "We can sit where we like, it's a free country."

"'Mione, make him leave." Ron turned to his supposed girlfriend. "You're Head Girl, you can get rid of the prat."

Draco laughed at Ron's pleading and raised an eyebrow as he waited to see how his girlfriend would react. "She'll not do it, Weasley. Granger's too much of a good girl to abuse her position," he taunted.

"'Mione?" Ron turned back to the brunette who was still standing not saying a word.

"Malfoy's right, I can't make him go away," Hermione admitted. "He and his friends can sit where they like."

"Told you," Draco laughed. "The mudblood doesn't have it in her to bend the rules to her own advantage."

"Don't call her that," Ron yelled, whipping out his wand and pointing it at the Slytherin.

Crabbe and Goyle immediately drew their wands and stepped up beside Draco as Hermione grabbed hold of Ron's arm.

"Don't Ron, he's not worth it," Hermione said. She wasn't the least bit bothered by Draco calling her a mudblood, she knew he only did it occasionally to keep up appearances.

"Yeah come on mate, the train will be setting off soon," Harry said, pulling Ron away from the Slytherin.

"You better watch it, Malfoy. I'll be watching you," Ron warned before turning back to the window.

"I'd be more concerned with watching your friends and family if I were you," Draco replied before turning to Crabbe and Goyle. "Let's go," he said, gesturing to the direction in which they had been heading.

"What's that supposed to mean, Malfoy?" Ron called after the blond as he began to walk away.

Draco never stopped walking, instead he turned around and walked backwards for a few steps as he answered with a smirk. "You'll see."

As Harry dragged Ron back to the window where Ginny was waiting Hermione exchanged a quick smile with Draco before he disappeared into a compartment behind Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione then joined her friends at the window as they waved goodbye to her parents as the train started to pull out of the station. As the train passed the rest of the platform Hermione spotted Lucius and Narcissa watching the train depart. When Lucius subtly nodded towards her Hermione realised it had been her they were watching for, Draco after all was already seated in a compartment on the opposite side of the train.

Once the train was fully out of the station Ginny decided to go and visit her friends, she promised to be back sometime before they reached Hogwarts to catch up with Hermione. After Ginny's departure the trio returned to their compartment, Harry shutting the door firmly behind them.

"Now do I get an explanation?" Hermione asked as she settled into the seat next to the window.

"Here, read this first," Harry said, standing on the seat and pulling a newspaper from his trunk.

Harry handed Hermione a copy of The Daily Prophet before sitting down opposite her, Ron had settled on the same side of the compartment as Hermione. Hermione unfolded the paper and gasped at what she saw, the image and headline were much better than she had hoped for. There was a large picture of The Dark Mark shimmering in the sky accompanied by the headline: 'Horror as The Dark Lord Returns.' Hermione quickly read the article that described the Death Eater attack on a small wizarding village in southern England, she did notice however that there was no mention of the message about her that Lucius had promised to leave. Hermione was confident that Lucius would have delivered the message but she was pretty certain that Dumbledore and The Order would have covered that part of the attack up.

"This is terrible," Hermione exclaimed. "But I though you said this Voldemort bloke was dead?"

"He is," Ron said. "Dumbledore's spent the last week reassuring people that he's really gone but the papers like to dramatize things. I guess its sells more papers to write about a dark wizard returning from the dead than tell the truth."

"What is the truth?" Hermione asked.

"That Voldemort's Death Eaters are back," Harry said. "Probably being led by Lucius Malfoy."

"How do you know all this? Have your parents told you?" Hermione questioned, eager to see how much her friends truly knew about the new threat.

"No, they won't tell us anything," Ron huffed. "Since it happened, just over a week ago, The Order has been officially reformed but they wouldn't let us join. All our information has come from eavesdropping and the basic bits we have been told."

"Why won't they let you join?" Hermione asked. "You're legally adults now so they shouldn't really be able to stop you."

"They're just trying to protect us, or so they reckon," Harry grumbled, clearly upset that he wasn't allowed to help more. "But Ron and I have already decided that if the attacks continue, we're joining the fight whether they like it or not."

"And we're going to try and gather information for them," Ron added. "We don't need to be part of The Order to snoop around a bit."

"What sort of information are you hoping to find at school?" Hermione asked.

"For a start we thought we'd keep an eye on Malfo,." Harry said. "His father is the one suspected of organising the attack."

"Plus you heard the way he threatened me," Ron added. "He knows exactly what's going on."

"Maybe, but you two have to be careful sneaking around after Malfoy," Hermione warned her friends. She wasn't liking the idea that they were planning on spying on Draco, it would made meeting up with him even harder if her friends were constantly hanging around him. "We all know he wouldn't be afraid of hexing you if he caught you snooping."

"We're not afraid of Malfoy," Ron said, trying to sound unconcerned despite sharing a worried look with Harry.

"I'm just saying be careful," Hermione said as she stood up. "Anyway I have to go and do head duties, I'm due in the prefects compartment in five minutes. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Good luck," Ron said with a smile.

"I hope the Head Boy's someone you can work with," Harry said. "Hopefully it won't be a Slytherin."

Hermione faked a smile before leaving her two friends alone. Making her way to the prefect's compartment at the end of the train she met up with Professor McGonagall and the Head Boy, Terry Boot. McGonagall spent half an hour informing the pair of their duties before leaving them alone. Hermione and Terry spent a few minutes dividing their jobs for the rest of the day before the prefects filed into the compartment.

Hermione spent another hour or so doing her Head Girl duties before she headed back to her own compartment. When she entered she found Harry and Ron playing exploding snap and digging into a large bag of sweets. Ginny had also returned to the compartment so Hermione left her male friends to their game and joined the redhead girl sitting by the window. For the rest of the journey the four friends chatted happily and the mention of Death Eaters never arose again.

Once the train arrived at Hogsmeade station Ginny went off to ride up to school with her own friends while Harry and Ron grabbed a coach.

"Hermione, come on," Ron called as Harry boarded a coach with the other three boys from Gryffindor.

"I have to stay and make sure everyone gets a coach," Hermione explained. She and Terry had assigned roles earlier and while Terry had gone up to Hogwarts in the first coach to ensure everyone arrived safely she was meant to ensure no-one was accidentally left behind. "You go on ahead and I'll meet you in The Great Hall."

"Okay, I'll save you a seat," Ron said, pecking Hermione on the cheek before quickly running to get in the coach with Harry.

It took Hermione nearly half an hour to get the entire student population onto coaches, she'd never realised how long it actually took for everyone to travel to the school before now. Once there was no-one left at the station Hermione turned and boarded the last coach. Hermione had just settled into the seat when she felt a presence beside her, turning around she found her boyfriend lounging in the seat next her hers, his long legs propped up on the seat opposite.

"What are you doing in here?" Hermione asked. "I'm sure I saw you get into a coach earlier on."

"I did, but it turns out I forgot something so I got back out of the coach before it took off," Draco replied.

"What did you forget?" Hermione asked.

"This." Draco leaned forward and pressed his lips against Hermione's as his arms went around her waist and he pulled her closer to him. "I couldn't do that earlier and I won't get an opportunity tonight."

"I've really missed you," Hermione sighed, breathing in Draco's familiar scent. "I can't wait till this is over and we don't have to hide."

"It'll be the end of the year before you know it," Draco said. "Then we'll be able to be together freely."

While Draco understood and supported Hermione's need for vengeance he could also relate to her disappointment at having to keep their relationship a secret. The whole point of telling his parents of their relationship was so they could be together in public, instead it had turned their world upside down as they discovered the truth.

"Do you know how the attack went?" Hermione asked, deciding not to dwell on the fact she still couldn't be seen with the man she loved. "Did your father give you any details?"

"He didn't give me any details, but I can assure you that it went great," Draco said, grinning as he spoke. "Everything went according to plan, we delivered the message perfectly. The Order has to realise we knew of your existence."

"You were there?" Hermione asked, suspecting from the way Draco was talking that he had accompanied Lucius and the Death Eaters on their mission.

"Yeah," Draco answered excitedly. "I was there, it was amazing."

"Well if you go on any more, be careful," Hermione warned. "I don't want anything happening to you. This whole thing will have been for nothing if I lose you."

"You won't lose me," Draco promised, wrapping his arm tighter around Hermione's waist. "Besides now we're back at school I'll not really have much chance to join in the fun."

"I'm sure we can create a bit of fun of our own," Hermione said, reaching up and kissing Draco deeply.

Draco and Hermione continued to kiss and occasionally talk until the coach pulled up outside Hogwarts. With a final kiss Draco hopped out the back of the coach while Hermione stepped out the door and was greeted by Terry. As the head students were talking and rounding up the stragglers Hermione noticed Draco's blond head disappear into the crowds entering the school. By the time Hermione entered The Great Hall and took her place in between Harry and Ron, Draco was already seated at the Slytherin table, looking as though he had been there ages.

For the rest of the feast Hermione didn't even glance in Draco's direction. More than once she felt eyes on her and out of the corner of her eye she spotted Dumbledore watching her. Hermione knew she would be under much more scrutiny in the upcoming year and she didn't intend to blow her cover by looking longingly at her boyfriend.

Throughout the night Hermione played the role of Gryffindor's golden girl perfectly and when the students dispersed for the night she was confident that Dumbledore still trusted her implicitly. In the eyes of the headmaster she was the perfect Head Girl, best friend to Harry Potter and loving girlfriend to Ron Weasley. There was no way Dumbledore could know she had discovered the truth and was secretly plotting the downfall of everyone who had betrayed her.


	14. Chapter 14

The noise in The Great Hall was getting steadily louder as more students arrived for breakfast. In the middle of the Gryffindor table Harry and Ron were discussing the absence of several Professors while Hermione was only half paying attention to the two boys, most of her attention was focused across the hall on the Slytherin table.

School had barely been back a month and already Hermione was missing spending time with Draco. Normally the couple would regularly meet up in the deserted portions of the library or in empty classrooms but this year they decided it was safer to be more selective when they met up. After Hermione had twice ran into Dumbledore in the library she was convinced they were doing the right thing in being more careful, the headmaster was clearly keeping a closer eye on her than normal.

The only reason Hermione was currently watching the Slytherin table was the fact that Dumbledore wasn't at breakfast. With Dumbledore's absence Hermione felt it was safe for her to watch Draco for a while. Hermione was so absorbed in watching Draco laughing with his friends that she didn't realise when Harry and Ron started talking to her.

"'Mione." Ron waved his hand in front of Hermione's face, grabbing the brunette's attention.

"Sorry, I was miles away," Hermione said, hoping Harry and Ron hadn't noticed where her attention had been focused. "What were you saying?"

"We were asking what you thought of all the absences," Harry said, gesturing to the empty places amongst the staff table. "Do you think it's happened again?"

Just over a week after returning to school there had been a second Death Eater attack. The first clue anything had been wrong was Dumbledore and several other Professors lack of presence at breakfast. Currently Professors McGonagall, Snape and Lupin were also absent and the trio knew all three were more heavily involved with the Order than the other staff.

"It's looking that way," Hermione replied. She actually had no idea if an attack had taken place as she hadn't even managed to speak to Draco briefly in the past three days.

"Maybe the paper will tell us," Ron said as the first owls began sweeping into the hall.

Hermione had a regular order with The Daily Prophet so all three of them patiently waited for the Prophet's owl to deliver the paper. When the owl did arrive in front of Hermione she placed her money in the bag in carried on its ankle and gave the bird a few bits of her toast before untying her paper.

"What's it say?" Harry asked, leaning over Hermione's shoulder as she unfolded the paper.

"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to read it," Hermione retorted.

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly as Hermione finished unfolding the paper.

"Dear Merlin, it's getting worse," Ron gasped as the trio stared at the pictures and accompanying headline.

The front page was dominated by large picture of a wrecked street with the Dark Mark hovering overhead. The headline announced that the wizarding village of Wolverstone had been destroyed in a Death Eater attack. Hermione read the article out loud to Harry and Ron, it described how the attack took place late the previous evening and that multiple witches and wizards were still helping with the clean-up and rescue of trapped residents.

When Hermione finished reading the article the trio looked around the Great Hall and discovered the attack was the main topic of discussion at every table, like Hermione several students subscribed to the Prophet so news was spreading quickly. Hermione noticed that the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were all looking worried while the Slytherin table looked as though nothing untoward was happening, even the Professors were looking anxious as they read the papers.

"Look at them gits," Ron snarled as he gestured to the Slytherins, in particular Draco and his friends. "They're enjoying this."

"Of course they are. Half of them have parents who would have caused the damage," Harry said, looking just as disgusted as Ron with the Slytherins.

"You can't know that for sure, Harry," Hermione argued. "You don't know any of their parents to say what they're like."

"We know enough about Slytherins in general, Hermione," Harry said. "They're all as bad as each other and like nothing more than to hurt others."

"If you say so," Hermione huffed, turning back to her paper as the boys started talking over her head.

Hermione read the rest of the paper while everyone was finishing breakfast. Just as breakfast was drawing to a close and Hermione was gathering her books to leave a silvery phoenix patronus flew into the Great Hall and landed on the Professors table. The whole hall stopped to watch as the patronus spoke to Professor Sprout before dispersing into thin air. Once the patronus had disappeared Professor Sprout stood up and called for silence.

"I have just received word from Professor Dumbledore that all Potions, Transfiguration and Defence against the Dark Arts lessons are cancelled today," Professor Sprout announced to a small smattering of cheers. "If you have any of those lessons today you will come to The Great Hall instead of the classrooms at the appropriate times. There you will spend what should be your lesson doing homework and studying for upcoming exams."

Several groans were heard as Professor Sprout finished talking, for a few minutes it looked as though free periods were on offer but instead they had turned into study sessions. As Professor Sprout dismissed the students the breakfast dishes started to disappear so the four house tables were clean for the studying that would take place later.

"Can you believe it, we have both Transfiguration and Defence against the Dark Arts this afternoon," Ron moaned as the trio stood up and started making their way out of The Great Hall. "We'll be stuck in the hall for hours on end."

"Some of us have Potions as well," Hermione said. Neither Harry nor Ron had achieved good enough exam results to carry on with Potions in sixth year, so they no longer took the subject. "I'll be back in the hall in a few hours."

"Look on the bright side, 'Mione," Ron said, throwing his arm around Hermione's shoulders. "At least you're not stuck in the dungeons with Snape and his Slytherins."

Hermione was about to protest and tell Ron she enjoyed Potions and the class wasn't full of Slytherins when someone bumped into them from behind, causing Ron to let go of her and stumble forward. Ron regained his footing and turned to glare at whoever had ran into him.

"Watch it, Weasley."

Draco's voice caused Hermione to turn around quickly. The second Hermione caught a glimpse of the way in which Draco was glaring at Ron she knew the push had been intended to stop the redhead from touching her.

"You watch it, you were the one who bumped into us," Ron snapped back.

"I can't help it if scum gets in my way," Draco shrugged. "You should learn to move out the way when people more important than you are walking."

"I hope you aren't talking about yourself, Malfoy," Harry said, pulling his wand out and standing next to Ron as the redhead also produced his wand. "Because from where I'm standing, you're the scum."

Draco growled quietly as he reached for his own wand. Draco had only just produced his own wand when Hermione stepped in between the arguing boys.

"Stop it everyone, or I'll have to deduct house points," Hermione said, addressing Harry and Ron. "I don't want Gryffindor to lose points."

"Then just take them off Malfoy, he deliberately pushed us," Ron argued.

"And you and Harry drew your wands," Hermione stated. "If I take points off Malfoy, I'll have to take them off you two as well."

"That's not fair," Harry protested, putting his wand away.

"Actually it's very fair," Hermione sighed. "Now come on, let's get to Herbology before things escalate even further."

Ron opened his mouth to protest but Hermione shot him a glare as she hustled her two friends away from her boyfriend. Glancing back Hermione spotted Draco watching them leave with a smirk, when he spotted Hermione looking at him he shot her a quick smile before turning and heading for his own class.

Settling down in-between the boys in Herbology, Hermione prepared herself for a day of moaning. She knew from experience that after a run-in with Draco there was nothing her friends liked more than to spend the rest of the day moaning about him.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Severus collapsed into a chair and mumbled a thank you as Lily placed a cup of tea in front of him. He'd spent all day in the village of Wolverstone helping with the clean-up and now he was back at Order headquarters. Normally Severus would have just returned to Hogwarts but there was a growing sense of unrest amongst the Order and he had heard several people demanding answers from Dumbledore. Eager to see what Dumbledore would say Severus had hung around and was now awaiting Dumbledore's arrival.

Ten minutes later Dumbledore arrived with Arthur, James and Sirius in tow, Severus suspected the men had been discussing what they would tell the Order. As the men settled around the table Molly produced cups of tea for them all and asked them if they wanted something to eat.

"Never mind food," Mundungus Fletcher called. "We want answers, my shop was destroyed today and I want to know why."

While Mundungus was hardly the most honest member of the Order, his shop was actually where he disposed of his stolen goods, several people backed him up in wanting answers.

"Yes, why are the Death Eaters looking for Athena?" Alice Longbottom questioned. "She's dead."

At the site of each attack, messages had been left demanding the Order return Athena to the dark side where she belonged. Dumbledore had managed to brush off the questions at the first two attacks but now the Order wanted to know why the Death Eaters were searching for a dead girl.

"Actually she isn't," Dumbledore sighed. He'd been hoping to never have to admit to lying but somehow the Death Eaters knew Voldemort's daughter was still alive.

"You said she died in the fire that killed her mother," McGonagall gasped, appalled that one of her most trusted friends had lied to them.

"I thought I was doing the right thing," Dumbledore said. "I managed to save Athena at the last minute and decided it would be better for her if everyone thought she had perished with her parents. I was actually hoping to avoid what's happening now, I knew that if the Death Eaters knew she was alive they would try to get her back."

"How do they know she's alive?" Frank Longbottom asked, shocked that he had been present that night but had no idea the little girl had survived.

"I have no idea," Dumbledore admitted.

Dumbledore was actually seriously worried about how the dark side knew Athena was still alive, his only consolation was the fact they seemed to have no idea who she was. All the messages that had been left all asked where Athena was and demanded her return. Dumbledore was confident that the Death Eaters had no idea that Athena was now Hermione Granger but he still planned on keeping her away from anyone who could potentially work out who she really was.

"Where's Athena now?" Remus Lupin asked, like Frank he was shocked that the girl had survived the attack on her parents but he was also angry that Dumbledore had kept the information to himself for so long.

"She's safe," Dumbledore answered. "She's been raised away from dark magic and she has no idea who she really is. I intend on keeping it that way."

"What if she's involved in these attacks?" Kingsley Shackelbolt asked. As an Auror he was trained to think of every possibility and he thought that if Athena knew the truth about who she was she would have every right to be angry with Dumbledore and the Order.

"She's not," Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "I promise you all, Athena Riddle is not involved with the Death Eaters and she never will be."

Dumbledore's reassurance seemed to pacify the majority of people present, there was a few wanted more answers but the headmaster refused to say anymore on the subject. When the subject was changed to discuss recent events Severus stood up and made his excuses to return to Hogwarts.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Severus was walking through the deserted dungeons towards his office when he turned the corner and walked straight into Draco.

"What are you doing up so late?" Severus asked. "It's past curfew."

"I couldn't sleep," Draco shrugged.

Severus cast an eye over the blond, noticing he was fully dressed and didn't even look as though he had been to bed. "I don't suppose you're sneaking off to visit a certain someone are you?" Severus asked, careful not to mention Hermione's name just in case someone was listening in to the conversation.

"Chance would be a fine thing," Draco sighed. "It's too risky at the minute, we need somewhere secret to meet but we haven't found anywhere suitable."

Severus stood looking at Draco for some time before he made a decision. "Follow me," he said, striding deeper into the dungeons.

Draco followed Severus as he walked straight past his office and past even the most distant classroom. Draco had never been so far into the dungeons before as he was under the impression the classroom they passed a minute ago was the last room in the dungeons. Draco was just about to question Severus when he turned into an alcove and stopped.

"What are we doing here?" Draco questioned. "It's a dead end."

"It's not," Severus replied. "It's actually a secret room only accessible to Slytherins, those that know of its existence of course."

Draco watched as Severus ran his hands over the alcove until he found a small, round hole. Making sure Draco was paying attention he placed the end of his wand in the hole and whispered the password, Serpents Tongue. Severus then removed his wand and the stones in the alcove suddenly started inching to the side, revealing a cosy room decorated entirely in Slytherin colours.

"This is amazing," Draco said, stepping into the room.

The room was half sitting room and half bedroom, In one half of the room there was a roaring fire with a comfortable looking sofa in front of it while over the over half of the room there was a large four poster bed with silver and green covers.

"You can bring Hermione here to talk," Severus explained. "Don't forget you need to discuss the Weasley children and what happens after her friends know of her existence."

"Thanks, Severus," Draco said, pleased he and Hermione finally had somewhere they could meet up privately.

"Make sure you use the room carefully, we don't want anyone to get suspicious if the pair of you are missing too often," Severus warned as they departed the room and it disappeared behind them.

"Don't worry, we'll be careful," Draco reassured Severus.

"Make sure you are. Now get to bed before I have to take points off you for wandering the hallways in the middle of the night," Severus said, as the pair headed back towards his office.

Once at Severus's office Draco said goodnight and went off to the Slytherin dorms while Severus entered his office. Severus didn't stay in the office, instead he went into his private quarters and collapsed onto the chair. He knew he would have to inform Lucius of what had happened with the Order but he would do that the next day, right now he was too exhausted to do anything other than crawl into bed.


	15. Chapter 15

Draco's cold grey eyes were fully focused on the couple sitting over the other side of The Great Hall. Weasley currently had his arm wrapped around Draco's girlfriend and the blond was fighting the instincts that told him to get up and tell Weasley exactly who Hermione belonged with. The only thing stopping him from causing a scene was the fact that Hermione would kill him for ruining their cover. She wanted vengeance more than anything so Draco was prepared to control himself and not get too annoyed at the ginger idiot touching his girl.

For the rest of lunch Draco turned his attention back to his friends, only occasionally stealing glances at the Gryffindor table. When lunch was over and it was time to start afternoon lessons Draco removed a piece of folded parchment from his bag and hid it in the palm of his hand. The parchment was a note to Hermione asking to meet her that evening, now all Draco had to do was try and pass it to her.

As Draco and his group of Slytherins left the Hall and headed to charms he managed to manoeuvre them so they were walking directly behind Hermione and her two friends. Draco knew from experience that his friends wouldn't be able to resist having a go at the Gryffindor trio and he was planning on using the confrontation to slip Hermione his note.

Just as Draco predicted his friends caused a scuffle in the doorway of charms. Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott waited until the trio were just about to enter the room before they suddenly barged forward, knocking both Harry and Ron to the floor. As the insults started flying Draco managed to slip the note into Hermione's hand before he joined the fray.

"Come on, guys," Draco said to his friends. "Let's get inside, these losers aren't worth our time and effort."

Like the obedient little Slytherins they were Draco's friends all followed the blond into the classroom. While they threw a few more insults at the Gryffindors none of them actually dared go against Draco once he made it clear he wasn't in the mood for an argument. Draco was the undisputed leader of their group and none of his friends minded in the slightest when he occasionally bossed them around.

Settling into his seat at the back of the classroom Draco watched as Hermione walked to her desk at the front of the room. When he realised she was scolding Potter and Weasley for reacting to his friend's taunts, Draco couldn't help but smirk. His smirk almost became full on laughter when the two Gryffindors hung their heads and apologised in unison to his girlfriend, she definitely had them whipped.

Once Potter and Weasley had scurried off to their own desk, a few seats away from Hermione, Draco watched as his girlfriend subtly checked the note he had just passed her. Hermione read the note under the table before folding it back up and dropping it into her bag as she removed her books for the afternoon's lesson. As she put her bag back on the floor Hermione turned her head around and caught Draco's eye. She gave him a quick nod, confirming she would be meeting him later, before turning back to the front of the classroom.

Satisfied he would finally be able to spend some time with his girlfriend Draco got his own books out and concentrated on the lesson in hand. With the knowledge he would actually be able to speak to Hermione the afternoon seemed to fly over and before Draco knew it he was heading to The Great Hall for dinner, then he was planning on making an excuse about homework to his friends as he snuck off to meet his girlfriend.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Hermione shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around herself as she carefully manoeuvred her way round the dungeons. She actually felt quite at home in the dark bowels of the castle but she was wary in case any Slytherin other than Draco was to spot her and question why she was there.

When Hermione had gotten the note from Draco saying he had found them somewhere private to meet up she had been thrilled, what she was less unsure of however was the location. Draco's note had said to meet him in the last potions classroom in the dungeons and he would lead the way from there. Hermione had no idea where Draco could be taking her from there but she trusted her boyfriend when he said he had somewhere for them to be alone.

When Hermione arrived at the pre-arranged meeting place she was relieved to find Draco leaning against the door of the classroom in question.

"You made it," Draco greeted his girlfriend with a smile.

"Well I was intrigued as to where you had found that was so private in the dungeons," Hermione shrugged.

"So it was nothing to do with the fact we've barely spoken since school started and you were missing me," Draco said teasingly.

"That may have played some part in my decision to meet you," Hermione replied, trying to appear unbothered by the fact she had barely seen Draco in the last month.

Draco rolled his eyes at Hermione's clearly fake nonchalance and grabbed her hand. "Come on, I'll show you our new meeting place."

Draco led Hermione into the hidden alcove and showed her how to activate the door, although he did admit he wasn't sure if Hermione would be able to gain access by herself as she wasn't a Slytherin. Hermione shrugged off the thought she wouldn't be able to enter alone as she followed Draco into the hidden room, there really was no need for her to use the room unless she was with Draco.

"I like it," Hermione smiled, looking around the room. It reminded her a bit of the Slytherin common room and how she felt more comfortable down in the dungeons than she did up in Gryffindor Tower, although her affinity for Slytherin was making much more sense now she knew her true identity.

"Good, I'll have to thank Severus again," Draco replied, coming up behind Hermione and wrapping his arms firmly around her waist.

"Why are you thanking Severus?" Hermione asked, trying not to get too distracted by Draco's lips that were on her neck.

"He showed me this place last night," Draco responded, not lifting his head from Hermione's neck. "Although he did say we shouldn't use it too often, we don't want people to notice our absence."

"He's right, we'll not be able to meet up too often," Hermione sighed.

"In that case we need to make the most of the time we do have," Draco said, suddenly picking Hermione up and carrying her over to the large bed.

"I thought we needed to discuss the plans," Hermione said as Draco dropped her on the bed and began removing her shoes.

"We do, but we'll do it later," Draco replied, throwing Hermione's shoes on the floor before he removed his own.

"And what will we do until later?" Hermione asked, moving further back onto the bed.

Draco grinned at Hermione as he crawled up the bed and pinned her underneath him. "Take a wild guess," he said before crashing his lips into hers.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

"I suppose we should talk now," Draco sighed, running his fingers along Hermione's spine. Personally he would rather continue their activities of the past few hours but he knew they would have to separate soon for the night and there was plenty to discuss.

"Yes we really should," Hermione replied, rolling over and sitting up in the large bed.

Draco also sat up and fished around on the floor for his shirt. Once he found it he handed it to Hermione who rolled her eyes at him before putting the white shirt on and fastening a couple of buttons.

"Is that better?" Hermione questioned. She knew Draco giving her the shirt was a combination of covering her up so he could concentrate as well the pleasure he derived from seeing her wearing his clothes.

"Definitely," Draco smirked. He loved seeing Hermione wearing his shirt, the only time she looked better was when she was naked but with a serious discussion to be had that was too distracting.

"Now you're happy, it's time to get serious," Hermione said. "How are Lucius's plans coming along?"

Hermione knew that Draco was in regular contact with his father, they wrote to each other daily and Severus passed on information too delicate to put in letters.

"Good. He's currently busy setting up Potter's father so it looks like he's having an affair, he also thinks he has a plan for Black," Draco said. "How do you like the sound of him going to Azkaban for attempted murder?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the idea. "Intriguing. Tell me more."

"All the details need to be finalised but basically father is thinking of working it so that it looks like Black has attacked the woman Potter's father is supposedly having the affair with," Draco explained. "The woman he's using is an old friend of the family, she'll swear she's being having an affair with Potter and when the attack happens she'll say it was Black."

"I like it," Hermione said slowly, running over the possibilities in her head. The timing would be perfect after James's death, the last thing Lily would want was to lose one of her best friends. "The woman won't get seriously hurt though will she?"

"No." Draco shook his head. "She's in on the whole thing, whatever happens to her will happen with her full consent."

"How are things going with the Weasleys?" Satisfied an innocent woman wouldn't get hurt Hermione moved on with the discussion.

"Fine. The werewolf attack can happen pretty much whenever you want. Father has invested in the twins business and is waiting for the perfect time to pull out. He's also looking into the one who works at the Ministry and see what trouble he can cause there," Draco said.

"Good, I still think we need more though," Hermione commented. "Molly and Arthur still need to suffer."

"What about the eldest two?" Draco asked. "Father wants to know if we could use them somehow."

"I suppose so," Hermione shrugged. "I've never met either Bill or Charlie but I've heard plenty about them. Charlie works in a dragon sanctuary in Romania while Bill is a curse breaker for Gringotts, he's currently in Egypt."

"I'm sure a couple of accidents will be easy to arrange," Draco smirked, thinking how easy it would be to get to the eldest two Weasleys considering they both did dangerous jobs. "My uncle actually spends a lot of time in Romania, he could be a great help."

"Uncle?" Hermione questioned.

She couldn't remember Draco ever mentioning an uncle before, she knew his father was an only child and his mother had two sisters. Hermione had actually met one of Narcissa's sisters, Andromeda. Andromeda had been disowned for marrying a muggleborn and Hermione had met her one time at The Burrow, she was fairly certain that Andromeda was part of the Order.

"Uncle Rodolphus, he's married to my Aunt Bellatrix." Draco explained. "They spend most of the year travelling, although they usually visit over holidays. Both Bella and Rodolphus were supporters of your father and they will definitely want to help you in any way they can."

"Good, the more support we have the better," Hermione said, smiling wickedly at Draco. "Between the twins business going under, Percy getting into trouble at work, accidents befalling Bill and Charlie and a werewolf attack, I think the Weasleys are in for a rough year."

Draco laughed at his girlfriend's evil streak, as much as he loved her before the need for vengeance took over he had to admit she was much hotter now she was evil. "We could make it rougher," Draco suggested.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, wondering if Draco had more plans.

"I mean it's time we discussed your two little friends and ginger's little sister," Draco said. "I know you want to wait and see how they react to what the Order did to you but I think we need to make plans in case they react badly. Also it's going to look suspicious if all the Weasley children are targeted, except the two you're the friendliest with."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to think about plans," Hermione said. "Although I have no idea on what to do with them."

"I have a few ideas," Draco smirked evilly. He had been waiting years to do something to the two idiots Hermione hung around with, the only problem was reining in his more bloodthirsty plans that resulted in the pair losing their lives.

"Come on then, let's hear them," Hermione told her obviously eager boyfriend.

"Potter's easy, because of his father you don't need to target him much but a nice Quidditch accident would be a lot of fun," Draco said, already planning the multiple way Potter could be injured during a match.

"Okay, what about Ron and Ginny?"

"Again the Weasel's easy. We use his biggest weakness, you," Draco said. "You're already pretending to date him so all you do is act as though your feelings for him are serious. With a bit of manipulation you get Weasley thinking you want to marry him and again with a bit of manipulation we get him to arrange some sort of public proposal. You turn him down spectacularly and not only is he totally humiliated but he also has a broken heart."

"That's so cruel," Hermione gasped. "If we did this, and it's still only an if at this stage, it would have to be one of the last things we did before I reveal who I really am."

"I know. But I figured it would take all year to drop the hints and convince him you would say yes to a proposal," Draco explained.

"I suppose we can also include Ginny in these plans. She would be the perfect person to drop hints at regarding marriage. She loves the thought of Ron and I together and would happily interfere if she thought the end result would be a wedding," Hermione mused, knowing Ginny's meddling nature would help her with this plan perfectly. "It would also cause a rift in the family if Ginny had been encouraging Ron all along. That's how we can use Ginny in these plans."

"All that is great, but I thought we could gear the girl up for a bit of public humiliation," Draco said. "If she's caught in a compromising position with a boy I'm sure her parents would be less than impressed, especially when it comes out that she's also been seeing his friend at the same time."

"That actually sounds as though it could be fun, but Ginny is totally into Harry. There's no way she'd fool around with two boys at the same time."

Draco looked at Hermione in bewilderment before he burst out laughing. "You're serious aren't you?" He gasped, getting his amusement under control. "You really don't know about her reputation."

"What reputation?" Hermione asked. "I know she's dated a few boys to try and grab Harry's interest but that's all."

"Hermione, that is not all," Draco told his girlfriend. "The Weaselette has a reputation as being loose. She'll spread her legs for anyone."

"How do you know this?" Hermione asked, still shocked that innocent little Ginny put it about a bit.

"Guys talk," Draco shrugged. "It's quite a source of amusement in the Slytherin common room that the biggest slapper in school is a Gryffindor."

"I had no idea," Hermione said. "But how does Ginny's reputation help us? For your plan we need a couple of boys who would help us."

"I happen to know two such men," Draco grinned. "Both Blaise and Theo would happily shag her and if I ask them I can arrange everything so she's seeing them both at the same time. She can then be caught with one and the other one could pretend to be pissed off and start a fight."

"Wow, that would cause quite a scandal. If Ginny was discovered to be sleeping with not one but two Slytherins, her family would be appalled," Hermione said. "But we're not making any plans for this to happen until after the attack on Hogsmeade. What we've just discussed would hurt all three and I don't want to use them unless I either have to or they agree with what their parents did."

"Fine, but for the record I think they'll see no problems with what their parents did," Draco said. "Knowing Dumbledore he'll twist the whole thing to make it sound like they did something noble by killing your parents and kidnapping you."

Hermione nodded, silently agreeing with Draco. "What about the plans for the Hogsmeade attack, do you know when it's happening?" she asked.

"Father's going to try and do it the first weekend visits are allowed," Draco replied.

"That's what, three weeks?"

Draco nodded. "I'll let you know when the plan is finalised."

"Good, I suppose that's everything," Hermione said, turning to swing her legs off the bed. "We should be heading back, it'll be curfew soon."

Draco checked his watch before pulling Hermione back onto the bed. "Curfew's not for another hour, we can stay here a bit longer. It could be weeks before we can do this again."

Hermione smiled at Draco as she began to remove his shirt that she was wearing. Once the shirt was back on the floor the couple resumed their activities from earlier. They had managed to discuss what needed to be talked about, so now they could get back to the main reason they had been so eager to meet up.


	16. Chapter 16

Hermione wandered into the bookshop in Hogsmeade, keeping an eye out for her boyfriend. She'd briefly spoken to Draco the previous day to confirm the attack was still taking place but she had no idea when it was going to happen. All morning she had wandered around the village with Harry and Ron, constantly on edge as she had no idea when anything would happen. Hoping Draco would appear if she was alone Hermione sent Harry and Ron to The Three Broomsticks to order lunch while she paid a visit to the bookshop.

Hermione had been browsing the shelves for nearly ten minutes and was about to give up and return to Harry and Ron when she heard someone behind her. Before she had a chance to turn round Hermione was encased by a strong pair of arms. She smiled as she recognised the scent of Draco's expensive aftershave.

"Someone might see," Hermione protested as Draco nuzzled into her neck.

"I've cast a privacy spell on the aisle," Draco said. "If anyone comes near they'll suddenly decide to change directions."

"Sneaky," Hermione commented, moaning as Draco's lips brushed a sensitive spot on her neck.

"I'm a Slytherin, it's in my nature," Draco muttered against Hermione's skin.

Hermione chuckled as she lost herself in Draco's embrace. For a few minutes all talk of the upcoming attack was forgotten by Hermione as she just enjoyed been held by Draco. All too soon however the need to return to business entered her head and she reluctantly stopped Draco's lips and turned round in his arms.

"What time is the attack happening?" she asked.

"About half one," Draco replied. "And don't worry, Father has instructed everyone that the students aren't to be targeted. Basically we're just leaving a message."

"I just hope Harry and Ron get it," Hermione said. "After all this is a pretty big waste of time if they don't find out I exist."

"They will," Draco smirked. "Father is going to make a big show of this, even Dumbledore won't be able to cover this up. And as for Potter and Weasley, it's my job to make sure they know exactly what's going on."

"You're going to approach them?" Hermione asked, wondering when this had been decided.

"Yeah," Draco replied. "I'm going to personally deliver the message about you."

"What if Dumbledore starts questioning you on what you know?" Hermione demanded, not at all sure of the plan.

"I can withstand his questioning," Draco declared confidently. "Besides all I have to do is plead ignorance. I was just passing on a message, I have no idea what it meant."

Hermione studied her boyfriend for a while, trying to decide if he could pull off the innocent act. Deciding that he probably could she nodded her agreement with the plan.

"I should be going," she sighed reluctantly. Leaving to spend time with Harry and Ron wasn't what she wanted to do but today was vital for her plan, today she would work out whether or not her friends would feature in her plans for vengeance.

"Maybe tonight we can meet in our room," Draco suggested.

"Maybe. I'll try, but if not we can meet as soon as possible," Hermione replied, not able to make plans just yet. "Good luck this afternoon and be careful."

"I'm always careful," Draco smirked, before giving Hermione a long kiss. "You be careful as well, I don't want you hurt by accident."

"I won't be," Hermione reassured Draco, giving him a final kiss.

Before she got distracted any further Hermione turned and left the bookshop. She then headed to The Three Broomsticks, just in time for her lunch arriving. Hermione then spent the meal trying to act as normal as possible, which was pretty hard to do. Hermione couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen once her friends discovered what their parents had done and more importantly how they would react to it.

By the time the trio had finished lunch and headed back outside it was nearly half one. Walking in between Harry and Ron, with Ron's arm slung uncomfortably over her shoulders, Hermione was on high alert for the Death Eaters. They had nearly reached Honeydukes, at the far end of the street, when the first shouts were heard. A moment later there was a large bang and the trio turned to find smoke rising from the distance.

"Is that the Shrieking Shack?" Ron questioned, trying to identify where the smoke was coming from.

Harry nodded. "I think so."

"What do you think happened?"

The question had barely left Ron's lips when several dark wisps appeared in the sky, heading directly for the village. Before anyone had a chance to react the dark wisps landed and Death Eaters appeared. The Death Eaters had barely arrived when they began trashing the village, obviously out to cause as much damage as possible.

"We need to get everyone back to school," Hermione yelled to her friends. The noise in the village had increased dramatically as students screamed and ran all over the place and the Death Eaters created havoc.

"We'll split up," Harry suggested. "At the minute the Death Eaters seem more bothered with property than people, but we can't guarantee it will stay that way."

"Okay, but don't try and cause trouble with them," Hermione warned. "We need to concentrate on getting people to safety. We'll leave the Death Eaters to the Order and the Professors."

Nodding at Hermione's words, Harry and Ron rushed away to help the students get back to school. Wondering where Draco was and when the public message about her would be delivered, Hermione also disappeared to help. While most students had the sense to run back to school the second the Death Eaters appeared there were still several people hanging around the place.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

After Hermione left the bookshop, Draco made his way to The Three Broomsticks. Instead of entering the pub he hid in an alley nearby and waited for Hermione and her friends to emerge. He needed to know exactly where Potter was during the attack as he needed to find the right time to approach him and deliver the message.

After a long while Hermione exited the pub with Potter and Weasley and Draco began stalking them in the shadows. When Weasley threw his arm over Hermione's shoulder Draco growled softly and used all his willpower not to reveal himself and throw the red-haired baboon off his girlfriend. Simmering with anger over Weasley touching Hermione, Draco quietly followed the Gryffindor trio.

The trio were just approaching Honeydukes when Draco heard the faint sounds of shouting. Initially the noises blended into the noisy atmosphere surrounding Hogsmeade but the subsequent explosion and smoke rising from the shrieking shack indicated there was something more sinister afoot. Draco watched as Potter and Weasley began panicking over what was happening. When the Death Eaters then arrived on the scene he chuckled at the duo's wide eyed expressions.

When Hermione and her friends split up Draco made sure to follow Potter, watching from the shadows as the Gryffindor ordered students to head back to the castle. Draco continued following Potter, until his eyes fell on his father standing in the middle of the street. Despite being in his mask and cloak Draco still knew the Death Eater was Lucius. Potter had also stopped and was looking curiously at the one Death Eater standing in the midst of the chaos doing nothing.

As Lucius raised his wand, Draco half watched his father and half watched Potter, who was standing mesmerised by Lucius. When Lucius cast the dark mark into the sky Draco heard Potter audibly gasp. Seconds later Lucius cast a second spell and like Potter, Draco turned his head up to see the message. Beside the shimmering dark mark was the flaming message; We want Athena back. The message was short and to the point but more importantly Dumbledore wouldn't be able to hide it like he had done to the other messages that had been delivered.

Once the mark and the message were in the sky Lucius apparated away and Draco returned his attention to Potter. Potter carried on looking up at the message, but he returned to making sure the students of Hogwarts were returning to school. Draco waited until Potter was in one of the back streets, before approaching him.

"What do you want, Malfoy? I'm busy," Harry snapped, turning around and finding the blond Slytherin blocking his exit.

"I've just come to pass a message along," Draco smirked. "Something for you to relay back to Dumbledore."

"Just go and tell Dumbledore yourself," Harry said. "I'm not in the mood to play your little games."

"It's not a game Potter, we're deadly serious," Draco snarled. "And we want Athena. She belongs with us and we won't rest until she's back with us."

"Who the bloody hell is Athena?" Harry asked, his eyes flicking up to the message burning in the sky.

"Ask Dumbledore, he knows," Draco replied. "And make sure he knows that this is only the beginning. Far worse will happen if he doesn't hand her over."

"You do realise you've just told me you're a Death Eater, don't you?" Harry questioned, looking at the Slytherin in bewilderment. He'd always known Malfoy was bad but he never expected him to admit to being in league with Death Eaters.

"I haven't, I've just passed a message on," Draco retorted, rolling his eyes. "Now it's your turn to do the same."

Without waiting for a reply, Draco disappeared back into the shadows and resumed watching Potter. The idiot stood around in the back alley for nearly five minutes before Weasley showed up and dragged him away. Draco continued to follow the duo and watched as they gathered Hermione and began making their way back to school. Slipping into the forest Draco also began making his way back to school, eager to see what everyone was making of the message and what Dumbledore would say to try and explain it.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Hermione was standing looking at the message in the sky when Harry and Ron ran up to her and grabbed her, announcing it was time for them to leave. Apart from the Death Eaters wrecking the place, Hogsmeade was practically deserted as the other students had fled back to the castle. Hermione had been surprised by how many people she'd had to tell to run, quite a few people had simply frozen at the sudden appearance of the Death Eaters.

Hermione, Harry and Ron ran back to school in silence. Halfway there they passed several members of Hogwarts staff and Order members heading down to the village. Arriving back at the school they were directed into The Great Hall, where it seemed the entire student body was gathered. Leaving Harry and Ron with their friends, Hermione hurried over to the Professors to see if she could help as Head Girl.

Professor Flitwick gladly accepted the help and called Terry over as well. He then told Hermione to check all the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were accounted for while Terry was told to check the Ravenclaws and Slytherins. Handing them both complete lists he sent them to check everyone was safe.

Half an hour later Hermione and Terry had confirmed everyone was present so Flitwick let them go back to their friends. Hermione spotted Harry and Ron sitting with Ginny in the corner of the room so she made her way over to them. Hermione had no sooner sat down when Harry cast a silencing charm around the four if them and announced he had something to tell them.

"While the Death Eaters were attacking Hogsmeade, Malfoy approached me and gave me a message for Dumbledore," Harry confided in his friends, telling them exactly what had been said.

"Who is this Athena they're after?" Ron questioned.

"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "But she's the reason they're attacking again, the Death Eaters want her and that's the whole point of these recent attacks."

"What do you think?" Ron asked looking between Hermione and Harry. "Is this Athena someone the Order is protecting or something more sinister?"

"I guess we'll never know," Hermione shrugged. She knew that now her friends had heard about her real identity they wouldn't stop until they knew about her but she didn't want to appear as though she was pushing them.

"We will know when we ask Dumbledore," Harry declared.

"We're going to ask Dumbledore about this?" Ginny questioned.

"Yes," Harry nodded determinedly. "If this Athena is the reason for the recent attacks, we need to know about her. It's time we were stopped being fobbed off and told the truth. We need to know what and who we're fighting."

Ron and Ginny nodded at Harry's declaration and Hermione had to control her smirk when they began talking about how to get the information they wanted from Dumbledore and their parents. By the end of the night she was confident her friends would know about her, now she would just have to wait and see how they reacted when they knew Voldemort had a daughter.


	17. Chapter 17

Dumbledore stood by the windows in The Great Hall, looking at the Dark Mark and the message still visible in the early evening sky. After dealing with the destruction of Hogsmeade, Dumbledore, the Order and the Hogwarts staff ensured the school was safe. After informing the students everything was alright and they were perfectly safe Dumbledore had dismissed them and currently there was a mass exodus occurring from the hall.

"Can we have a word sir?" Harry's voice sounded from beside Dumbledore.

Turning round Dumbledore found Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all standing with Harry. Instinctively he knew it was about the message that the whole school was talking about and now he had to decide what to do for the best.

"It's important," Harry continued, when Dumbledore didn't answer him. "It's about Athena and Draco Malfoy."

Dumbledore's eyes widened and his heart rate sped up considerably, he really didn't want to hear the names Athena and Draco in the same sentence.

"We can't talk here," Dumbledore finally said, deciding on a plan. "I have a few things to do here but you can all come to my office in half an hour."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, nodding at the headmaster before turning back to his friends and leaving with them.

Dumbledore watched the four Gryffindors leave before he left The Great Hall himself. Looking around he spotted James and Sirius double checking the wards on the front door. Several members of the Order were planning on staying the night and ensuring the students safety and he knew the Potters and Weasleys were amongst those who had volunteered to stay and help. Those that weren't staying in the castle were down in Hogsmeade, helping to clean up the devastation that had been cause that afternoon.

"James, Sirius," Dumbledore called approaching the two wizards and checking they couldn't be overheard before continuing. "Find Lily, Molly and Arthur and come to my office. Harry and his friends are asking questions and we need to decide what to tell them."

The two men nodded and rushed off to find the only other people that knew the truth about Athena. Still trying to work out the best thing to tell Harry and his friends, Dumbledore headed up to his office. Once in his office Dumbledore made a pot of tea and he had just laid out the cups when the others arrived. Ushering them into seats he handed everyone a cup before settling down himself.

"What do you mean Harry is asking questions?" Lily questioned. "What is he asking questions about?"

"Technically he hasn't asked any questions yet," Dumbledore admitted. "But he did approach me and say he needed to talk about Athena."

"He's probably curious about the message," James said. "I'm sure Ron and Hermione are just as curious. It's only natural they want to know what's happening, but it doesn't mean we have to tell them anything."

"He also mentioned Draco Malfoy," Dumbledore said, causing everyone else to gasp.

"Do you think the Malfoy boy knows the truth about Athena?" Molly asked.

"I don't know. But I would say it's likely he knows she exists," Dumbledore admitted. "If he has said anything to Harry we need to be prepared to answer questions."

"What are we going to say?" Arthur asked. "Are we going to mention who Athena is now?"

Dumbledore vehemently shook his head. "No." He was confident that the dark didn't know who Athena now was but he didn't want to risk anyone finding out and the more people that knew of her identity the more chance it would have of leaking out. "I'm thinking we tell Harry, Ron and Hermione the same thing the rest of the Order knows."

"That Voldemort and his wife died in battle and we rescued their daughter seconds before she was killed along with them," Sirius said, repeating the story everyone else knew.

"Yes."

"But what if they ask about her whereabouts?" Lily asked. "Do we tell them she's Hermione?"

"No, that must stay between us," Dumbledore insisted. "No-one can find out Hermione's true identity, not even Hermione herself. Hopefully we can get rid of the Death Eaters and Hermione need never know of her terrible parentage."

"Poor girl, it would destroy her if she knew she was a product of that evil man," Molly said. "I agree its best that she never knows about her true parents."

Dumbledore just had time to make sure everyone was on board with telling the official story when there was a knock on the door. Dumbledore got up to answer the door and he quickly ushered the four Gryffindors into the room.

"Ginny, what are you doing here?" Molly questioned, spotting her daughter at the back of the small group of Gryffindors. "Go back to Gryffindor Tower immediately."

"That's not fair," Ginny pouted. "I want to stay."

"Let her stay," Ron said to his mother. "We'll only tell her everything that's said, so she might as well hear it first-hand."

"Fine you can stay," Molly tutted at her daughter. "But I'm not happy about this."

"Thank Mum," Ginny said, smiling at her mother before settling into the seat next to Harry, who had settled himself next to his godfather.

"Okay Harry," Dumbledore said, settling back into his own seat. "You said you needed to discuss something important."

"Yes, I've got a message to give you," Harry said. "In Hogsmeade this afternoon Malfoy approached me and told you to pass on a message to you."

"What was the message?" Dumbledore asked.

"They want Athena and they won't stop until they get her," Harry said. "Malfoy also said that this was only the beginning. That things would get worse if you didn't hand her over."

"Should we bring the Malfoy boy here and talk to him?" Arthur asked Dumbledore. "Maybe he can tell us what the dark know."

"I think Mr Malfoy was merely the messenger," Dumbledore sighed. "And as for what the dark know, I doubt they know anything solid, hence the attacks. They somehow know Athena is alive but that's all, they have no idea where she is."

"Who is Athena?" Harry asked, getting sick of the cryptic discussions going on around them.

"Athena is the daughter of Voldemort," Dumbledore told the stunned teenagers. "The night her parents died, we managed to save her."

"Save her, how?" Harry asked, still trying to get his head around the fact that Voldemort had a family. He'd heard a lot about Voldemort growing up and not once had a family been mentioned.

"I take it you all know the story of the night Voldemort was defeated?" Dumbledore asked. When the four teenagers nodded their heads he continued. "During the fight he conjured a magical fire that he lost control of. His wife and child were trapped by the flames, but we managed to save his daughter."

Hermione almost bit through her tongue to stop herself from jumping up and announcing how much of a liar Dumbledore was. He was making it sound like he had done a heroic thing in taking her from her family, he never once brought up the fact he had brutally murdered people in their beds and stole her from their home.

"What happened to Athena?" Ron asked.

"She was raised well away from the dark and is completely safe and happy," Dumbledore replied.

"Where is she?" Harry questioned.

"That doesn't matter," Dumbledore answered. "The important thing is that she's nowhere near the dark and they will never get to her."

"But they know of her existence," Ron pointed out. "They won't stop until they get her back."

"That won't be happening," James scoffed. "They will never get Athena."

"How can you know that?" Harry asked his father. "They seemed really determined to get her."

"We will never let that happen, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Believe me, we will all fight and the dark will never triumph."

"What if this Athena wants to fight for the dark?" Ron asked. "How can you stop her?"

"She doesn't want to fight for the dark," Dumbledore replied. "I know her and there isn't a bad bone in her body."

"Yeah right," Ron snorted. "She's Voldemort's daughter, no matter how she's been raised she'll still be an evil bitch."

"Ron," Molly scolded her son. "Don't use language like that."

"I assure you Athena is not evil," Dumbledore told Ron, who still looked sceptical. "But her existence has to remain a secret."

"But it's not a secret," Ginny said. "There's a big bloody message over Hogsmeade announcing the Death Eaters want her back."

"I'm going to be dealing with that over the next few weeks," Dumbledore replied. "You four don't need to know the details but before long even the Death Eaters will think they've made a mistake and they've been searching for a dead girl."

"So you want us to keep quiet about the fact she's really alive?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I trust you four implicitly and know you'd never let anything slip that the dark could use. They need to think Athena is dead and you four need to keep quiet about her," Dumbledore said.

"We can do that," Harry said. "Can't we guys?" he asked his friends.

Hermione and Ginny quickly agreed while Ron grumbled before also agreeing to be silent on the matter of Athena.

"I think you four need to get back to Gryffindor Tower now," Dumbledore suggested. "It's been a long day and we all have more work to do, so off you go."

After dismissing the teenagers, Dumbledore turned back to the others and they began making plans for making it appear that Athena was in fact dead.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Hermione walked back to Gryffindor Tower slightly behind her friends. She was worried that she still wouldn't get her friends true views on what had happened as Dumbledore's story portrayed him and the Order in a perfect light. In Dumbledore's story they had saved her from certain death but in reality they had snatched her from the safety of her own home. All Hermione could do now was wait and see if the topic came up again with her friends and see what they had to say about the matter.

Hermione didn't have to wait long for the topic to arise as they had no sooner entered Gryffindor Tower than Harry was pulling them up to the boys' dorms. Ron briefly stopped to ask Seamus, Dean and Neville to give them some privacy before he followed them upstairs. Once in the boys' dorm Harry and Ginny sat on Harry's bed while Ron sprawled out on his. Ron was clearly expecting Hermione to join him on his bed but instead she settled at the seat in front of the window. From this angle she could just say make out the burning letters still hovering over Hogsmeade.

"What does everyone think of this?" Harry asked. "Was it just me or did you get the feeling we weren't told everything?"

"Does it matter?" Ron shrugged. "We know enough, and personally I'm not really interested in hearing about Voldemort's offspring. Hopefully the bitch is somewhere far away and we never have to deal with her."

"I'm with Ron on this one," Ginny said. "As long as she steers clear, I'm happy. I'm not interested in her in the slightest."

"What if she's not bad?" Hermione asked quietly. "What is she's just a normal girl."

"No offence Hermione, but you didn't grow up in the wizarding world, if you had you wouldn't be saying this. Voldemort was evil, nothing good can come from him," Ron said. "His daughter will be bad to the bone."

"Pity the Order saved her really," Harry remarked flippantly. "If she'd died these attacks wouldn't be happening and the world would be safe."

"That's a horrible thing to say Harry," Hermione gasped, unable to believe Harry had just said such a thing.

"Maybe, but he's right," Ginny said. "Every single injury and death that is caused by these Death Eater attacks is because of Athena. If she wasn't here the world would be a better place."

"Well said, Gin. My sentiments exactly," Ron grinned at his sister.

Hermione looked at the three Gryffindors, feeling physically sick. True, she'd expected then to side with their parents and agree that she should have been taken from her own parents but she never expected the hate that she was witnessing. They knew absolutely nothing about Athena, apart from the fact she was Voldemort's daughter, and they detested her. Hermione suspected that if they were to discover the truth about her then they would abandon her so fast she would barely have time to register what was going on. Suddenly feeling the need to get away Hermione abruptly stood up. The conversation was still revolving around her and how evil she was and she just couldn't deal with it anymore.

"I'm really tired, I'm going to bed," Hermione announced when she received three questioning looks at her abrupt rising. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

Not giving anyone a chance to reply Hermione fled the room and hurried to her own dorm. Quickly getting ready for bed she drew the curtains around her four poster bed and snuggled down to think. Tomorrow she would talk to Draco, but it would appear that the plans for her friends would go ahead. They thought she was pure evil, well she was about to show them exactly how evil she really was.


	18. Chapter 18

"It's time to move ahead with our plans," Hermione announced the second she and Draco entered the secret room in the dungeons.

It was the day after the Hogsmeade attacks and Hermione had spent the previous night dwelling on her friends reactions to everything Dumbledore had told them. Their reactions had been far more vicious than she'd ever imagined and she was now just as eager to see them suffer.

"I'm assuming this means they reacted pretty much how we thought," Draco remarked, settling down on the sofa.

"No, they reacted much worse," Hermione replied, settling down next to Draco and telling them what had been said the previous night.

Draco visibly bristled when Hermione mentioned that Harry thought it was shame Dumbledore hadn't let her die with her parents and by the time she was finished talking he was fuming.

"Bloody bastards," Draco spat, barely keeping his anger in check. "I'm going to really enjoy ruining their lives."

"Me too," Hermione agreed. Any lingering doubts over hurting her friends had disappeared the night before when she had witnessed their true colours.

"Where do we begin?" Draco asked.

"I'm leaving Harry up to you, you can organise a quidditch accident whenever you want," Hermione replied. "Again with Ginny, I'm leaving that in your hands. I'm not sure what will work the best there."

"I was thinking I would send Theo in straight away and he can seduce her. Once they've established some sort of relationship, Blaise will come along and tempt her into his bed. We'll then arrange for Severus to catch Blaise and Ginny together. Theo will play the injured party and cause a commotion in The Great Hall, making sure everyone knows what she's been up to."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully, running over the idea in her head. "How are you so sure Ginny will cheat? If she's into Theo, why would she sleep with Blaise?"

"I think you underestimate the seduction power Blaise has," Draco chuckled. "When he turns on the charm, not many girls can resist. I can try and think of a back-up plan just in case this one fails, but I'm confident it'll work."

"If you're confident it'll work, then I'm happy," Hermione said, flashing Draco a quick smile. "I trust you to get the job done."

"And I will," Draco nodded. "What about you? Are you still going to work on getting Weasley to propose?"

"Yes, that's my aim," Hermione replied. "Although if I'm going to convince him I'm serious, I might have to cosy up to him a bit more."

Draco grimaced at the thought of Weasley laying his filthy hands over his girlfriend. "How far will you go?"

"Not very. I'm thinking of telling him I don't believe in sex before marriage," Hermione smirked. "I was thinking I could lead him on and make him think I really want to sleep with him, but I can't because we're not married."

"I'm sure as you do that you could always drop a few hints about wanting him to be your first," Draco said, seeing how Hermione's ruse could work perfectly. If Weasley thought he would get some action from Hermione he might rush into a proposal.

Hermione grinned wickedly at Draco, pleased he was on board with the plan. Her plan would involve more physical contact with Ron, but she would be very careful not to let him get very far with her. Not that the bond would let her go too far, as she had to fight the bond as it was whenever she was with Ron. However, the more she could tease him and tell him she wanted him, the more likely he would be to do something rash as he tried to get her into bed.

"Okay so now that's sorted, how's the rest of the plan coming along?" Hermione asked. "Have you spoke to Lucius since Hogsmeade?"

Draco shook his head. "No. I'll speak to Severus tonight and he can tell him the latest. I wanted to wait until I'd spoken to you, before contacting father. This way I can tell him how perfectly his plan worked."

"It did that," Hermione agreed. "Harry and Ron reacted exactly like we predicated. They went straight to Dumbledore demanding answers, and now they know about me I've found out what they're truly like."

"I'm sorry. I know that you didn't want it to come to this," Draco said softly, hearing the underlying sadness in his girlfriend's words. While Hermione was doing a good job of letting her anger take over, he knew there would still be a part of her hurt by her friends harsh words.

"I'm sorry too," Hermione replied, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm sorry I ever befriended Harry and Ron. I should have listened to my instincts and distanced myself from them when they started to try and turn me against Slytherins."

"In a way it's a good job you didn't," Draco said. "This way you're still considered their best friend and Dumbledore won't suspect you, but if you hadn't been as close with them he might have looked at you more closely."

"That's true," Hermione conceded, knowing her boyfriend was right. "But enough of that, back to the rest of our plans. How are they coming along?"

"Excellent," Draco grinned. "Potter senior's affair is progressing nicely and things are being put in place for the Weasleys. In fact our first victim should be getting their treatment sometime this week."

"That was Percy wasn't it?" Hermione said, thinking back to how things were organised. "Or was it either Bill or Charlie?"

"The one who works at the Ministry," Draco confirmed. "Father's already set the wheels in motion there and as I said, sometime this week everything will blow up and he will lose his job."

"Good," Hermione nodded. "I also think I need to speak with Lucius soon. I want James killed over Christmas and I know exactly how we're going to do it."

"I'll set something up," Draco said. "I'm sure Severus can help us arrange a meeting."

"I'm sure he can," Hermione replied. "But I think I've had enough talk of vengeance for tonight. How about we spend our remaining time indulging in something a bit more pleasurable?"

Draco grinned enthusiastically as he leaned over and connected his lips with Hermione's. Settling down on the sofa the couple's clothing quickly began disappearing as they made the most of their brief time together.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Sitting in The Great Hall having her breakfast, Hermione supressed a shudder as Ron plonked himself down beside her and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Morning, 'Mione," he grinned, before turning his attention to the food and began filling his plate.

Hermione inwardly grimaced at the nickname, but managed to smile at her fake boyfriend. "Morning Ron. Harry, Ginny." She nodded at the pair settling down opposite them.

As her friends began their breakfast, Hermione pulled a book from her bag and pretended to study. Since the attack on Hogsmeade all the trio talked about was Death Eaters and Hermione was getting sick of it. In private they also kept talking about Athena, but in public it was too risky so they stuck with voicing their opinions on Death Eaters and discussing what they thought the Order were up to.

After ten minutes Hermione put her book away as the post owls began swooping into The Great Hall. When her paper came she dropped her money into the pouch the owl carried and gave the bird a bit of her toast, before it flew back off. By this point Harry, Ron and Ginny had stopped talking and they all watched as Hermione opened her paper. It was now a daily ritual for the foursome to look at the paper together and see what was happening in the wizarding world.

So far this week all the headlines had been about the attack on Hogsmeade and the message the Death Eaters had left behind. Yesterday's edition of the paper included an interview with Dumbledore, who publically announced that Athena was Voldemort's daughter and she had died years ago. Dumbledore's story was pretty much the same one he'd told them, apart from this time he claimed that the fire had killed Athena before he had a chance to do anything to save her. He'd also revealed a grave that seemingly belonged to the Riddle family, claiming he had given them a proper burial after they were killed. Hermione was not impressed with the story, but everyone else seemed to buy it and the common consensus was the Death Eaters had been fed some false information and were searching for a dead girl.

"What's today's story?" Ginny asked. From her position opposite Hermione she couldn't see the paper clearly.

"Nothing to do with Hogsmeade," Hermione answered. "The main story is about a pile of Death Eaters being released from Azkaban."

"What? Why?" Harry demanded as he leaned over the table to get a better look at the paper.

Hermione placed the paper on the table and they all read the headline; Ministry Cock-Up Releases Dozens of Death Eaters from Azkaban. The article went on to explain how some paperwork from the Ministry ensured the release of several Death Eaters, including some who were considered high risk prisoners.

"How could this happen?" Ron asked in disgust. "Which idiot did this?"

"I don't know," Hermione answered with a shrugg as she continued to read. "The Ministry are conducting an investigation to find out who signed the papers."

"Whoever it was I hope they're strung up," Ginny declared angrily. "They've just put more Death Eaters onto the streets and it's dangerous enough as it is."

"What if it was deliberate?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"Why would anyone deliberately release Death Eaters?" Ron question his best friend.

"To strengthen their numbers," Harry replied. "I'll bet you any money that Lucius Malfoy is involved with this. I bet he's the one behind the whole thing."

"Bloody hell, of course," Ron nodded. "He works at the Ministry, he could have easily signed the papers. Bloody git."

Hermione bit her lip to stop herself from correcting Ron. Lucius didn't work at the Ministry, he had his own string of businesses but he did do a lot of business at the Ministry and was a frequent visitor to the place. Although while Ron was wrong, Harry was right. Lucius was behind the entire thing, only it would be poor Percy Weasley who would suffer the fallout. Hermione had no idea how Lucius had engineered the whole thing, but she knew that somehow Percy had signed the forms and was responsible for the released Death Eaters.

"Does it say which Death Eaters were released?" Harry asked Hermione.

"It mentions a few of the high risk prisoners," Hermione said, finding the bit that mentioned names. "Rabastan Lestrange is one of them. According to this his brother and sister-in-law were also rumoured Death Eaters, although they weren't convicted."

"Of course they weren't," Ron snorted. "The Malfoy money at it again. Bellatrix Lestrange, that's Rabastan's sister-in-law, is Narcissa Malfoy's sister. According to Dad, she and her husband, Rodolphus, were abroad at the time of Voldemort's death and Lucius made any charges against them disappear before they returned."

"Why didn't he do the same for Rabastan?" Ginny asked. As the youngest, and only girl, in the family, she often didn't hear all of her father's stories about the war.

"According to the paper, Rabastan was already in prison," Hermione said, repeating what she had just read.

"Does it mention anyone else who's been released?" Harry asked.

"Yes, there's a mention of a brother and sister, Amycus and Alecto Carrow," Hermione replied, reading out the brief bit of information there was about the pair. "That's all they mention, but there's going to be a late edition of the paper with full details."

Just then the bell rang and the group began gathering their stuff. As they left they continued to discuss the released Death Eaters, with both Harry and Ron convinced Lucius was behind the whole thing. When they started claiming it would be his downfall and he would finally be proven to be a Death Eater, Hermione had to laugh to herself. Even though he was the mastermind behind the whole thing not a thing would be pinned on Lucius, he would emerge from this with his reputation completely intact. When the blame was apportioned it would all fall on Percy and he would be blamed for releasing dozens of dangerous wizards and witches back into society.

* * *

 **A/N – Due to popular demand, I will be adding a third update a week to this story. Starting from next week, updates will now be Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm happy to add to the update schedule as not only does this story have 50 chapters and we're not even half way through yet, but I've just finished writing my next dark Hermione story, so I'll have something to publish once this is finished,** **and plenty of time to finish other stories as well** **.**


	19. Chapter 19

News about Percy's involvement in the Death Eaters being released took longer to filter through than Hermione thought it would. Almost a week passed without mention of Percy and Hermione had started to get worried. A chat with Draco confirmed that Percy would take the blame, but he also mentioned they had to be patient. Patience wasn't one of Hermione's better qualities, especially lately with her thirst for vengeance consuming her every thought. She did however manage to last until the news broke, without making anyone suspicious.

Hermione heard the news of Percy's involvement from Ginny. Hermione had finished her nightly patrols as Head Girl and had just returned to the Gryffindor common room when Ginny came flying down the stairs. She was curled up next to Ron, playing the attentive girlfriend, while they both chatted to Harry when Ginny approached them.

"Ron, you're never going to believe this," Ginny gasped, coming to a stop in front of the three seventh years. "It's awful."

"What's awful?" Ron asked his sister.

"Percy," Ginny said, sitting down beside Harry and lowering her voice so only her brother and his friends could hear. "Mum's just wrote to prepare us."

"Prepare us for what?" Ron asked, getting annoyed that Ginny just didn't get straight to the point.

"Tomorrow's newspapers," Ginny replied. "The Ministry have discovered who was responsible for releasing the Death Eaters."

"About bloody time," Harry muttered. "I can't believe it's taken them almost a week to work out who was responsible."

"Ginny, I'm confused," Ron scowled at his sister. "Did Mum write to tell us something about Percy, or did she write to tell us about the Ministry inquiry?"

"Both. Percy was the one who signed the release forms," Ginny whispered.

"What?" Ron exploded, causing several people nearby to turn and stare at the foursome. "That's impossible, he wouldn't do that."

"Perhaps we should take this somewhere more private," Harry suggested, noticing they were the main focus of attention in the common room.

"Let's go up to your dorms," Hermione said, standing up and pulling at Ron. "Come on Ron, we can talk about this properly upstairs."

Hermione steered Ron up to the boys dorms, with Harry and Ginny following close behind. Once they were in the room they settled down to talk properly.

"Ginny, tell us exactly what's going on," Hermione said to the younger witch.

"I got this letter from Mum a few minutes ago," Ginny said, pulling a piece of parchment from her pocket and handing it to Ron. "Basically she's warning up that Percy will be tomorrow's headlines. Sometime this afternoon there was a big fuss at the ministry and Percy lost his job. It turns out he was the one who signed the forms releasing the Death Eaters, but he's denying it."

"Of course he's denying it, he didn't do it. He's being set up," Ron announced, looking up from where he was reading his mother's letter.

"There's an investigation going on, but until they discover the truth Percy is on house arrest at The Burrow," Ginny told Harry and Hermione. "Mum just wanted us to know, because she thinks the papers will write all sorts of horrible things about Percy."

"Not to mention people's reactions," Hermione added.

"What do you mean, people's reactions?" Ron asked, looking at the brunette witch in bewilderment.

"I just think you need to prepare yourself for some backlash," Hermione replied. "You've seen how scared people have been this past week, when it emerges that Percy was responsible some people will take it out on you two."

"But Percy didn't do this. He's innocent," Ron argued.

"We know Percy wouldn't do this, but other people don't," Harry told his best friend. "A lot of people will assume he knew what he was doing."

"Harry and Hermione's right," Ginny said. "We have to be prepared for people to believe the worst of Percy. I'm sure there'll be all sorts of rumours concerning him, and us for that matter."

Ron was silent for a few minutes as he took in what his sister and friends were telling him. "What sort of rumours do you think there'll be?" he eventually asked in a quiet voice.

"All sorts," Harry shrugged. "People might say he was under the Imperius Curse, or he was threatened into doing what he did. People might also reckon he was tricked into signing the papers, and he unwittingly helped the dark."

"Then there's the nastier rumours that will be circulating," Hermione interjected. Harry's suggestions all painted Percy as a victim, but she knew there would be plenty of rumours circulating that portrayed his as a villain.

"What sort of nastier rumours?" Ron asked.

"The ones that will imply Percy is working for the dark," Hermione answered. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of people who won't believe his pleas of innocence. Some people will believe he's either a Death Eater himself or he's associated with them in some way."

"No-one will think Percy is on the dark," Ron snorted. "Our entire family are members of the Order and fully support Dumbledore. Everyone knows Weasleys are considered blood traitors by the dark."

"I'm just telling you what some people will say," Hermione said with a shrug.

"I think Hermione's right," Harry said thoughtfully. "And I bet you any money tomorrow's Prophet implies Percy is working for the dark."

"What makes you think that?" Ginny asked.

"Because I think that's exactly what Lucius Malfoy wants people to believe," Harry replied. "We've already decided he was behind the Death Eaters being released, and I bet he was the one who framed Percy. He wants to discredit Dumbledore and the Order."

"How does this discredit Dumbledore and the Order?" Ron queried, not following Harry's logic.

"Just before this happened, Dumbledore told everyone Athena was dead and made the Death Eaters look like idiots for searching for a dead girl. By having Percy release the Death Eaters, he taints the good name of a family loyal to Dumbledore. If people start questioning Percy's loyalties, they'll question the rest of the family and eventually they'll start to question Dumbledore's judgement. With a bit of manipulation Lucius Malfoy can make it look like Dumbledore's losing the support of those most loyal to him."

At the end of Harry's speech Ron and Ginny looked at him in awe, clearly believing everything he'd just said. Hermione however was slightly taken aback by the elaborate conspiracy Harry had concocted in his head. While the basis of Lucius setting up Percy was true the rest was pure fantasy, and to be honest it didn't make a whole lot of sense to Hermione. She didn't understand how setting up Percy would discredit Dumbledore and the Order, to really make that work they would have had to target someone with a bit more influence in the Order.

"Since we can't prove any of that, why don't we return to the reason we're up here," Hermione said as the trio began talking about Harry's conspiracy theory as though it was something they knew for sure was happening.

"I guess Hermione's right," Harry sighed. "We should be preparing you guys for tomorrow."

"It's okay, Harry. We know what to expect and we won't be listening to any of it," Ginny said determinedly.

"Yeah, we know Percy is innocent and we won't let anyone bad mouth our brother," Ron added.

Hermione watched the two redhead's closely wondering if they would really be able to cope with all the gossip and rumours surrounding Percy. Personally she doubted the hot-headed pair would last a week before getting into a fight over their brother with someone.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

As it turned out Hermione was right about both Ron and Ginny not being able to rise above the taunting. Three days after the news about Percy became public knowledge Ginny got into a slanging match with a Hufflepuff girl in her year and the pair of them ended up brawling outside of The Great Hall. Ron lasted almost a week before he clashed with a muggleborn Ravenclaw who made it clear that if anyone was hurt by the Death Eaters Percy had released then the Weasleys were to blame. The resulting argument ended with Ron throwing a punch and both boys ending up falling in the Black Lake.

The two incidents landed both Ginny and Ron in detention until the end of term. Hermione acted all sympathetic towards Ron, but secretly she was thrilled. With Ron in detention he wouldn't be around as much, so she was free to spend a little bit more time with Draco. Hermione was still very careful about how much time she spent with Draco, and how they acted in public. Things were going so well she didn't want anyone getting suspicious of her absences.

With Ron and Ginny in detention, Harry turned his attention towards the upcoming quidditch season. With Harry absorbed in his quidditch plans and the Weasleys being punished, Hermione took the opportunity to spend a Friday evening with Draco. It had been a few weeks since they had spent any quality time together, in fact the last time they had been down in their secret room was the day after the attack on Hogsmeade when Hermione announced they were including her friends in her plans for vengeance.

Almost as soon as they entered the room the couple pounced on each other, eager to get reacquainted after going a few weeks without being together. Their clothes quickly scattered around the room as they made their way to the large bed and collapsed onto it in a tangle of limbs. It was a good few hours later that the teenagers finally tore themselves away from each other and settled down to talk.

"How's the plan working?" Draco asked. "Are the Weasleys suffering yet?"

"Both Ginny and Ron have earned themselves detention until Christmas, and from Molly's letters to the pair of them things are stressful at home. Percy's still under house arrest, as the Ministry still haven't worked out if he made a genuine mistake in signing the papers or if it was deliberate."

"Father said to tell you he can push the investigation in either direction, all you have to do is say the word," Draco told his girlfriend. "He can also just leave well alone, and let the Ministry draw their own conclusions."

"Leave it, I'm more than happy for them to come to their own conclusions. No matter what they decide, Percy's reputation is in tatters and that reflects badly on the rest of the family," Hermione replied. "But for now I want to talk about out other plans."

"Which ones?" Draco asked. "We do have a lot to work on."

"First of all, how are you coming along with Harry and Ginny?"

"The first quidditch match is next week and poor Potter will find himself playing with a bewitched bludger," Draco grinned. "I've got everything in place, all we have to do is wait and see how he handles the situation. He might not get hurt, but that's a slim possibility. More than likely he'll break a limb or something."

"What about Ginny?" Hermione asked. "How's Theo coming along with her?"

"He's not," Draco sighed, clearly unhappy. "With her detentions she had very little free time so he's struggling to get near to her. I think until after Christmas things will be slow moving, once she's finished her detentions Theo can get her attention."

"There's no real rush, I suppose," Hermione replied, not overly concerned that they were behind schedule in regards to Ginny. "Do you know how things are progressing with your father?"

"He's planning a few more Death Eater raids this side of Christmas and everything's running perfectly in regards to Potter's father. He's also got a man in Egypt, whose made contact with the Weasley over there. News of an accident of some sort should arrive within the month."

Hermione nodded, satisfied everything was going according to plan. "We need to set up a meeting, I need to explain my plan for over Christmas."

"I'll get Severus to sort it out for some time next week," Draco said. "I've spoken to him and he's going to arrange for father to visit his office via the floo network. All we need to do is be in the office and we can have a talk."

"Good. Do you think Severus would help with our plan for James?" Hermione asked. "I sort of need his expertise for everything to run smoothly."

"Severus promised to help, so he'll help," Draco replied, confident that the wizard would support them fully in whatever Hermione needed him to do.

"I hope so," Hermione replied quietly.

While she'd grown to trust Severus, she was still unsure if he could go through with something that would hurt Lily so much. Despite his claims to be on their side Hermione still wasn't sure if his feelings for Harry's mother had really gone like he claimed. Hermione just had to hope that in the end they could trust Severus as if he betrayed them it would be Hermione's neck on the line over Christmas. While Lucius would be the one to actually kill James, it would be Hermione who was taking all the risks, both before and after the murder.


	20. Chapter 20

Hermione settled into the Gryffindor stands, for once looking forward to a quidditch match. Even though she'd attended matches since first year, she wasn't a big quidditch fan. Even after she got together with Draco, she would watch his matches to witness him in action, but she still never really grasped the appeal of the sport. The again it wasn't the quidditch action she was looking forward to, it was the enchanted bludger she was looking forward to seeing. Hermione wasn't a hundred percent sure how Draco had managed to get the enchanted bludger into the game, but he'd reassured her that nothing could be traced back to him.

As the players from both teams entered the pitch, Neville slid into the seat next to Hermione. With Neville were the other seventh year boys, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. Hermione greeted all three boys, before returning her attention back to the pitch. Harry, Ron and Ginny were all lining up with the Gryffindor team while the Ravenclaws were setting up opposite them. After the two captains had shaken hands, Madam Hooch released the balls and the game got under way.

The first ten minutes of the game ran smoothly, and Hermione was beginning to wonder if Draco had messed up somehow and the enchanted bludger wasn't in play. Looking over at the Slytherin stands, she easily picked her boyfriend out of the crowd. The fact that Draco looked perfectly happy and not at all worried, calmed Hermione somewhat. Surely if there was a problem with the bludger, Draco would be looking concerned, as it was he looked to be thoroughly enjoying the match. Hoping her boyfriend was right not to be concerned, Hermione turned her attention back to the match.

A few minutes later, Hermione was pleased to see a bludger whizz past Harry, narrowly avoiding displacing him from his broom. The action made several of the crowd gasp, and the gasps only got louder when the bludger stopped in mid-air, before zooming back towards Harry.

"Hey, that's not right," Seamus cried as Harry narrowly avoided the bludger for the second time. "How did that Bludger change direction? No-one hit it."

No-one got a chance to answer Seamus's question, as they were all too concerned with watching Harry. Yet again the bludger had changed direction without being hit and was flying past Harry. This time Harry had barely managed to stay on his broom, and he was barely settled when the bludger came at him again.

"It looks like someone's cursed the bludger," Dean cried. "It's just chasing Harry."

Dean was right and now Harry had realised the bludger was circling him, he'd set off to try and outrun it. However the bludger was following him and several times he was nearly unseated from his broom. By this point the entire crowd was watching Harry, and even the other players were keeping one eye on what was happening with the Gryffindor seeker. Ron was so concerned in goal that Ravenclaw managed to score three goals and level the scores.

"We need to stop this," Ginny called as she flew past Madam Hooch.

"If you stop you forfeit the game," Madam Hooch replied.

"No, we're not stopping," Harry called. He'd been flying past the two witches and had heard what was being discussed.

"But you're being chased by a bludger," Ginny argued, gasping as Harry quickly darted away from the oncoming bludger before returning to her side.

"I can avoid it, and look for the snitch," Harry replied, keeping one eye on the bludger that was heading his way again. "Just play. Leave the bludger and snitch to me."

Leaving Ginny to spread the word that the game was continuing, Harry shot off to avoid being hit by the rogue bludger. Much to Hermione's frustration, Harry managed to avoid the bludger for quite a while. At one point he slipped off his broom, but he was able to right himself. As the bludger kept getting closer to hitting Harry and he looked to be struggling to avoid it, Hermione half expected Dumbledore to step in and halt the match. Luckily for her, Dumbledore did no such thing and the match continued.

When Harry suddenly got the snitch in his sights, Hermione was worried that the bludger wasn't going to do its job. Luckily when Harry's attention turned to the small golden ball, he lost focus on the bludger. Just as Harry was about to catch the snitch, the bludger snuck up behind him and hit him on the right shoulder with an almighty crack. The blow sent Harry off balance and the snitch fluttered away as Harry toppled off his broom and went plummeting towards the ground. The entire crowd watched in stunned silence as Dumbledore slowed Harry's fall and cushioned the ground for him to land on. The second Harry landed, he let out an agonising scream and clutched at his right shoulder.

Knowing she would be expected to be at Harry's side, Hermione jumped up and pushed through the crowds as she made her way down to the pitch. By the time she ran onto the pitch, Ron and Ginny were gathered around Harry, with the rest of the team looking on, while Madam Hooch was making sure he kept still. Following Hermione onto the pitch were Professors, Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Let's get Harry up to the hospital wing," Dumbledore announced. "Minerva, can you dispense the crowds and send them back to the castle."

McGonagall nodded and headed off to deal with the crowds as Dumbledore helped Harry to his feet and ushered him to the hospital wing. Hermione, Ron and Ginny all followed Dumbledore and Harry to the hospital wing and they watched as Madam Pomfrey fixed the broken bones in his shoulder and put his arm up in a sling.

"You can stay here overnight," Madam Pomfrey told Harry. "There's a few small bones that need time to fix, before I'll let you leave. Are you still in pain?"

"I'm okay." Harry replied. He'd already downed one pain potion, and his shoulder was just throbbing.

"What are you going to do about the bludger?" Ron demanded of Dumbledore. "It was clearly cursed."

"I'll look into it," Dumbledore reassured the four concerned Gryffindors.

"What's to look into?" Ron snorted as Dumbledore exited the hospital wing. "Clearly the Slytherins tampered with the bludger."

"Why would the Slytherins tamper with the bludger?" Ginny asked her brother. "I could understand if they were playing, but they weren't. The match wasn't anything to do with them."

"Maybe it was just Harry they were targeting," Ron suggested. "The Slytherins would use any opportunity to try and get to him."

"Ron's right. Malfoy especially would love to see me seriously injured," Harry said, backing up his friend.

"Well luckily you weren't seriously injured," Hermione said. "Let's just leave it at that, and let Dumbledore look into things. I'm sure he'll find the person responsible and they'll be suitably punished."

 _ **G.O.V.**_

The day after the quidditch match, Hermione and Draco were settled in Snape's office awaiting Lucius's arrival for their meeting. Hermione had easily been able to slip away from Gryffindor tower, claiming she had head duties to attend to. Even if she hadn't been Head Girl she was confident she would have slipped away unnoticed as Harry and Ron were too busy bemoaning Harry's accident the previous day. Neither of them were impressed that Dumbledore had found nothing to prove who had been behind the enchanted bludger. He'd found enough to know that Harry was its target, but he didn't know who had enchanted it.

Thoughts of Harry's accident slipped from Hermione's mind as the floo network suddenly activated and Lucius emerged from the flames. After greeting everyone and checking they wouldn't be disturbed, Lucius sat down and the reason for his visit was mentioned.

"I understand you have a plan for dealing with Potter," he said to Hermione.

"I do," Hermione nodded. "I've managed to get myself an invite to the Potters for the first few days of the holidays. On my last night there, we're going to kill him."

"I assume you have a plan for getting into the house undetected," Lucius said.

"I do. And I need your help for that part," she answered, turning and directing her last few words at Severus.

"I'll help anyway you desire," Severus told the young girl.

Reaching into her bag, Hermione pulled out a bag of mini marshmallows and handed them to the Potions master. "I want you to fill them with a sleeping draught of some sort."

Hermione then explained how Lily always made hot chocolate on an evening and everyone but her had marshmallows on their drink. Her plan was simply to ensure everyone was sleeping before letting Lucius into the house so he could kill James. Hermione would then eat a few marshmallows to get some of the sleeping draught into her system, just in case they were tested once they woke and found James dead.

"That's rather ingenious," Severus said, impressed with the plan.

"Will it be obvious I've taken the sleeping draught after the others?" Hermione asked Severus.

"No." Severus shook his head. "Everyone will have different levels of the draught in their system depending on their metabolism. There's no way anyone will be able to tell you digested it separately to the others."

"I have a question," Draco said. "How are you going to ensure the others have the drugged marshmallows? Surely it's going to be suspicious if you give them marshmallows then they're all found with sleeping draught in their system."

"Lily keeps a jar of marshmallows in the kitchen cupboard. I've bought the ones she always buys from Honeydukes, so all I have to do is empty the jar and fill it with the drugged ones. When we're done, we can take the drugged ones away and replace them with the original marshmallows."

"And will it be suspicious if you don't have marshmallows on your drink?" Lucius checked.

"No, I hate marshmallows on hot chocolate," Hermione replied. "They all know that, so it won't be suspicious when I don't have any."

"Marshmallows on hot chocolate sounds strange," Draco remarked. "Surely they'll melt and be horrible."

"They do melt, which is why I don't like them," Hermione answered. "But that really isn't the point. We're here to discuss the plan and ensure it's going to run smoothly."

"It all seems pretty simple to me," Lucius said. "Providing the sleeping draught works, you can let me in and I can kill Potter. Then in the morning he'll be found dead in his bed and there'll be no explanation how anyone got inside."

"The sleeping draughts will work," Severus said reassuringly. "I can have some whipped up in a matter of days, and inject it into the marshmallows."

"There's no rush, as long as I have them before the Christmas break," Hermione said.

Severus reassured Hermione he would have the marshmallows sorted before she left school for Christmas. Once that was sorted, Hermione checked that Lucius was coming along nicely with James's fake affair. Everything had to be in place with the fake affair, as it had to rumble into action once James was dead. Luckily Lucius reassured her that everything was in place and ready to go once James was no longer a problem.

"The Ministry is also about to conclude their investigation into Percy Weasley," he told Hermione. "It looks as though they're going to come to the conclusion that it was a mistake on Weasley's part. They are however going to sack him, after a mistake like that they can't keep him on the staff. Is that okay, are do you want me to point them in the direction his actions were deliberate?"

"No, I'm happy with their conclusions," Hermione replied. "Percy losing his job will be hard for the Weasleys to cope with. Even if the Ministry concludes it's an honest mistake, there'll still be people questioning him. We'll leave Percy alone now."

Lucius nodded, more than happy to do whatever Hermione wanted. "Also over the next few days the Egyptian based Weasley will be having an accident. Let's call it an early Christmas present for the family."

Hermione chuckled in response, before the meeting was wrapped up and she and Draco left Snape's office. Once in the dark corridors of the dungeons, Draco pulled Hermione into an alcove and gave her a searing kiss, before the couple parted ways for the night. Hopefully they would be able to manage a few hours together before the end of term, but right now they both had their respective houses and friends to get back to.


	21. Chapter 21

It was the last week of term when news came of Bill's accident. Hermione was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, watching a chess match between Harry and Ron, when Ginny came into the tower carrying a letter.

"Hey Ron, this is addressed to both of us," Ginny called. "It's from Mum."

"Open it up and tell me what it says," Ron replied, not looking up from the chess board. The game with Harry was tighter than he would like and he was looking for a move that would ensure victory would be his.

Ginny did as her brother asked and ripped open the letter. The second she started to read she went pale and let out a choked cry. Ron and Harry both looked up from their game, wondering what was wrong with Ginny.

"What is it?" Ron asked warily as a few tears began to fall down his sister's cheeks.

"It's Bill," Ginny sniffed. "He's been in an accident and is in a coma."

"Are we leaving early?" Ron queried. "Is someone coming to get us so we can go and see Bill?"

"No." Ginny shook her head as she continued to read the letter. "Mum says he's stable and in no real danger. She's heading over to Egypt now and Dad will take us when we break up for Christmas."

"I guess that's something," Ron sighed deeply. "If we're not being taken out of school, it means he can't be too bad."

"Not too bad, he's in a coma Ron," Ginny screeched at her brother. "That is pretty bad."

"I just meant he's obviously in no danger of dying or anything," Ron replied. "If he was, we wouldn't still be here."

"Ron's right," Harry said quietly as he stood up and wrapped an arm around Ginny. Even though they weren't a couple, Harry cared about Ginny and was hopeful something might develop between them once she was older and more mature. "You have to remain positive. You just read that Bill is stable and is in no real danger, at least that's something."

"I suppose so," Ginny nodded, wiping at her tears. "I'm sorry for shouting, Ron."

"It's okay, you're just upset," Ron answered.

"Did you mother mention what exactly happened?" Hermione questioned as Ginny sat down with Harry still comforting her.

"A curse he was trying to break had a hidden security feature he hadn't found," Ginny replied, as she yet again turned back to the letter in her hand and read what her mother had written. "He was hit by the back-up curse and fell into a coma. Mum doesn't know all the details, but whoever informed her of the accident reassured her Bill would eventually be fine."

"I don't like the sound of eventually," Ron frowned. "That makes it sound as though he could be in a coma for a while."

"That's all Mum said," Ginny shrugged. "I'm guessing she doesn't know anything more."

"You can find out more in a few days," Hermione said to Ron, when it looked as though he was going to continue to badger Ginny. "I'm sure by the time we break up, your father will have all the information about Bill."

"Yeah, you're right," Ron smiled at Hermione.

"I usually am," Hermione retorted lightly.

While Ron chuckled at Hermione's attempt to lighten the mood, Ginny stood up and announced she was going for a walk. Harry quickly offered to go with her and the pair left the common room, without even bothering to ask if Ron and Hermione wanted to join them.

"I'll go and take the chess set upstairs," Ron told Hermione as he gathered everything up. "I'll be back in a minute."

Hermione nodded, and settled down to read the paper while she waited for Ron to return. She was pleased to see that the Death Eater attacks were still going on, despite Dumbledore's efforts to make everyone think Athena was dead. While the general wizarding public thought the Death Eaters were mistaken, they were refusing to stop the attacks until they had Athena back. Harry, Ron and Ginny had been complaining about the continued attacks earlier in the week, they were unimpressed by the fact the Death Eaters weren't believing Dumbledore.

By the time Hermione had finished reading the paper, Ron still hadn't returned from taking his chess set up to his room. Wondering what was keeping him, Hermione headed upstairs to see what was wrong. When she found Ron sitting on his bed with his head in his hands she couldn't help but smirk, she could only imagine that Molly's reaction to Bill's accident would have been even more severe than Ron's. Hermione was half tempted to turn around and leave again, but she knew that wasn't the response of a loving girlfriend. Instead she forced herself to walk over to Ron and sit down beside him, gently wrapping her arm around his back.

"Are you okay?" She asked tentatively. She was half hoping that Ron would ask to be left alone, so she wouldn't have to try and comfort him.

"I guess," Ron replied quietly. "I knew Bill did a dangerous job, I just never thought about him getting hurt before."

"Of course you didn't. No-one likes to think of the possibility someone they care about will get hurt," Hermione said soothingly. "You just have to be grateful it wasn't too bad."

"You're right." Ron nodded. Looking up at Hermione he smiled at her. "Thank you for being so great. I don't know what I would do without you."

Hermione felt a twinge of guilt as she looked at Ron, but before it could fully form her mind pushed an image into her head from the night her friends had discovered who Athena was. The memory of her friend's disgust and the terrible things they'd said about her was more than enough to douse any remorseful feelings in her.

"Luckily, you won't have to find out," Hermione replied, offering Ron a fake smile.

Ron looked at Hermione for several seconds, before brushing her hair away from her face and leaning towards her. "I love you, Hermione."

Hermione didn't have chance to respond before Ron's lips were slapped over hers. As usual when they kissed her entire body screamed out that she was betraying Draco, and she had to work hard not to give in to the urge to forcefully push Ron off her. Instead Hermione forced herself to move closer to Ron and act as though she was thoroughly enjoying the kiss. Ron took her pressing closer to him as an indicator to deepen the kiss, and Hermione found herself having to deal with his enthusiastic tongue. For the first time since the beginning of their fake romance, she also had to contend with his wandering hands. One hand was on her neck, but the other was rubbing her thigh, teasing at the bottom of her skirt. Luckily for Hermione she was able to break the kiss moments later, without offending Ron. A slight blush and a lowering of her head was enough for Ron to realise she was shy about what they were doing. At times like these Hermione was pleased that Ron thought of her as an innocent bookworm, it certainly made keeping their fake romance on an innocent level pretty easy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to push you," Ron said quietly.

"You weren't," Hermione replied, looking up at Ron shyly. Now would be the perfect time to start laying the foundations to get him to propose. "I'm just nervous, I've never done more than exchange a brief peck before you."

"I'm not going to push you into anything," Ron said. "We can take things as slow as you want."

"That's the problem, I'm torn about what I want," Hermione confessed. "I've been brought up to believe that you don't have sex before marriage, and I intend to stick to that. But I want you to be my first, and I don't want to be too old when we have sex."

Ron eyes bulged at the mention of sex, and Hermione almost laughed as the redhead tried to formulate a sentence. Several times he opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out were a series of strangled squeaks.

"Oh god, I've freaked you out," Hermione said, jumping off the bed. "I never should have mentioned this."

"I'm not freaked out," Ron protested, jumping off the bed and stopping Hermione before she could leave the dorm room. "I'm flattered you want me to be your first, and I want the same thing. I want you to be my first. But we're still at school, there's no rush to make any decisions, is there?"

"Of course not," Hermione smiled. She knew the idea was firmly planted in Ron's mind, it just needed time to grow. All she had to do now was ensure that Ron was so desperate to sleep with her that he proposed, although that shouldn't prove that difficult to manage.

"Should we head back downstairs?" Ron asked, clearly uncomfortable in the dorm now the subject of sex had been raised.

"Yeah, Harry and Ginny will probably be back soon," Hermione answered.

Hermione followed Ron back down to the common room, pleased she'd had a chance to further her plan with him before the Christmas break. She wasn't sure if she would see him over the holidays, but even if she did with everything that would be going on mentioning their potential future sex life wouldn't really be appropriate.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

For the remainder of the term, Hermione didn't get a chance to spend any time with Draco. Between Harry and Ron and her duties as her Head Girl, she just didn't have time to sneak away down to the dungeons. Luckily once James was killed at the beginning of the holidays she should be at home, meaning she should be able to do the same as she'd done in the summer and spend time with Draco while her parents were at work.

The only brief interaction Hermione had with Draco happened when she was boarding the train with Harry and Ron. Draco and his friends were just in front of them as they boarded the scarlet steam engine, and Draco couldn't resist taunting them about the ongoing Death Eater attacks. A few well-chosen words from Draco about people not being fooled by Dumbledore was enough to have Harry lunging at the blond. Fortunately for Draco, Crabbe and Goyle stepped in front of him and prevented Harry from getting to the Slytherin.

"Harry, stop it," Hermione scolded. "You'll only get yourself in trouble."

"Yeah Potter, listen to Granger," Draco sneered. "Be a good boy and obey the mudblood."

"One day, you're going to get what's coming to you," Harry yelled at the blond as Ron held him back so he wouldn't attack again.

"As will you," Draco smirked, before he and his friends turned and left the three Gryffindors in the corridor of the Hogwarts Express.

"I hate him," Harry seethed as the trio settled into a nearby compartment.

"Don't we all. Smug bastard that he is," Ron agreed.

"It's only going to get worse if these Death Eater attacks continue," Harry sighed. "He'll think he's invincible, considering it's his father in charge of them."

"What can we do though?" Ron shrugged. "Dumbledore's tried to convince them Athena's really dead. We can't force them to believe it."

"What Dumbledore should do is kill her now and hand her over," Harry said viciously. "They want Athena, I say we give her to them."

Hermione's mouth dropped open at Harry's cruel words. It was one thing wishing she'd died when she was a baby, but it was another to advocate her murder now.

"It's a shame we don't know where the bitch is, we could do what Dumbledore should have done years ago," Ron said.

"Maybe we can find out," Harry replied thoughtfully. "Our parents clearly know about Athena, maybe they know where she is. We never asked too many questions about her, we don't even know how old she is. I think it's time we found out more about the witch that's causing all this trouble."

"I agree," Ron nodded. "It's time we stepped up and ended this. If our parents aren't prepared to do what needs to be done, we'll have to do it for them."

"Hermione, are you in?" Harry asked, looking at his friend. She'd been remarkably quiet since the conversation began, in fact she'd been quiet about Athena since they discovered she existed.

"I don't know," Hermione replied. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you planning on killing an innocent person. You know nothing about this Athena, yet you're willing to kill her."

"We know enough," Harry retorted sharply. "The simple fact she's Voldemort's daughter is enough to warrant her death."

"We're not going to force you to be involved," Ron reassured Hermione. "But will you at least agree to keep quiet? We can't have our parents finding out what's going on?"

"I suppose I can do that," Hermione sighed.

"Good," Ron smiled. "Besides, unless our parents can tell us anything, it's just talk anyway. We might not even be able to do anything."

Hermione didn't doubt for a second that their parents would keep quiet, and their threats were empty ones, but the very fact they were making them was what was disturbing her. All the threats did was make her even surer she was doing the right thing in including her friends in her plan for vengeance. However she was now wondering if what she had planned for them was too tame. Did she need to do more against the people she'd once considered her best friends?


	22. Chapter 22

Hermione's couple of days with the Potters seemed to fly by. Hermione and Harry spent most of their time helping Lily getting ready for Christmas. They decorated the tree, went shopping for last minute gifts and helped her wrap them and place them under the tree. However the entire time, Hermione fought an inner war with herself. Spending time with the people she was seeking vengeance against was giving her serious second thoughts, but every time she remembered why she wanted vengeance her anger returned.

Hermione was still fighting with her doubts as the day they'd arranged James's death for arrived. In order to give herself time to think, Hermione settled herself at the kitchen table with her school work. In her bag were the drugged marshmallows, if she decided to go ahead with her plan. If she did decide to abort, she would just keep the marshmallows and when Lucius turned up she would tell him there'd be a change of plan.

Hermione spent all morning debating with herself over what to do, but when lunch arrived her mind was made up for her. For the first time since the train ride, Harry brought up Athena with his parents. Neither James nor Lily would tell Harry anything, but Hermione noticed the concerned looks they exchanged. She also noticed the wary looks James kept throwing her way. When his parents wouldn't give him any information about Athena, Harry wandered off in a bad mood once they were finished eating. Hermione meanwhile headed off to the bathroom, and when she returned she overheard the tail end of a conversation James and Lily were having.

"I just don't think this is a good idea. I don't like having her here," James hissed at his wife. "Not now all this is kicking off with the Death Eaters."

"It's got nothing to do with Hermione," Lily retorted. "She's hardly behind it, is she?"

"How do we know that for sure?" James asked his wife. "She is the daughter of that monster."

"But she doesn't know that," Lily argued. "Hermione is an innocent girl."

"She's anything but innocent. She's Voldemort's daughter," James snorted. "We never should have listened to Dumbledore and let Harry befriend her. It's too dangerous, if the Death Eaters discover who she is our son could be in real danger."

"They're not going to find out who she is," Lily stated. "Only a handful of people know and none of us are going to tell. Now stop talking about this, before Harry or Hermione hear."

James huffed and told Lily they would discuss it later, before he left the kitchen. From the hallway, Hermione waited a few minutes before entering the kitchen. After the conversation she'd just heard she was more determined than ever to go through with her plan for vengeance. Lily gave Hermione a bright smile as the young witch settled back down at the table and once again pulled out her books.

"I'm going to head upstairs to change the beds," Lily told Hermione. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Hermione reassured Harry's mother.

Once Lily was gone, Hermione waited a few minutes before grabbing her bag and making her way across the kitchen. From her bag she pulled out an empty bag, and a bag full of marshmallows. Hermione then pulled out the jar of marshmallows from the cupboard and using magic she emptied them into the empty bag. Putting the now full bag of marshmallows back into her school bag, Hermione emptied the drugged marshmallows into the jar and replaced it in the cupboard. Now all she had to do was wait until later when they had hot chocolate and her plan could kick into action.

For the rest of the day, Hermione waited in nervous anticipation for the hours to pass. After spending the early afternoon doing some homework, she settled down in the front room with her book. As the afternoon wore on, Harry and Lily made an appearance and settled down with Hermione. By early evening James had also shown up, with Sirius in tow.

After dinner everyone settled down in the front room, and when Lily went to make hot chocolate Hermione went to help her. The move wasn't unusual or suspicious as Hermione always tried to help out when she visited her friend's houses. After helping Lily make the hot chocolate, Hermione grabbed the marshmallows and carried the jar into the front room. Everyone always put their own marshmallows in their drink, and usually Harry kept adding more as he drank. Hermione was pleased when everyone added marshmallows to their hot chocolate, and pleased her plan seemed to be working perfectly she settled back to enjoy her own marshmallow free drink.

The sleeping draught in the marshmallows began to take affect within an hour of the hot chocolate being consumed. Given how many marshmallows Harry had added to his drink, he was the first to start drifting off. Shortly after Harry had gone to bed, James told Sirius to stay the night and he also headed off to one of the spare bedrooms. Hermione waited a few more minutes before she headed to bed and she'd barely settled on top of the covers when she heard James and Lily coming up the stairs and heading into their own room.

Hermione set a quiet alarm on her wand, just in case she drifted off to sleep as she settled down to wait until midnight. Midnight was when Lucius was due to arrive to enact his part of the plan. As she waited, Hermione did drift off into a light sleep, but she was woken by the sound of her wand vibrating on the wooden nightstand. After stopping her wand from vibrating, Hermione hopped out of bed and grabbing the bag of marshmallows from her school bag she left the spare room. As she passed the other bedrooms, she put her ear to each door, checking for sounds that could indicate anyone was awake. Hearing nothing but quiet snores, she set off down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Hermione didn't bother with the kitchen light as she pulled open the back door and stood in the dark doorway. After a few minutes she spotted two soft glowing lights heading her way. She knew the lights were from wand tips, but she was confused by the double presence. As far as she knew Lucius was coming alone. As the light moved closer, Hermione recognised the figure in the front as Lucius and behind him she recognised the silhouette of her boyfriend.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione hissed at Draco as the two wizards stopped at the back door and doused their wands.

"I wanted to be here for you," Draco told his girlfriend. "I know this isn't going to be easy for you."

Hermione smiled at Draco and pulled him into a hug as he and Lucius entered the kitchen. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear as he held her.

"Which room belongs to James and Lily?" Lucius asked. Even though everyone should be asleep, he didn't want to risk entering the wrong room.

"The one directly opposite the top of the stairs," Hermione replied.

Nodding his head a determined Lucius strode out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. Once Lucius was gone, Hermione stepped out of Draco's arms and lighting her wand she went over to the cupboard and pulled out the marshmallow jar.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, following Hermione.

"Swapping the marshmallows back," Hermione answered as she tipped the drugged marshmallows back into the bag they were originally in and replaced the normal ones back into the jar. "This way no-one will be able to find out how the sleeping draught got into our system."

After explaining what she was doing to her boyfriend, Hermione ate a small handful of the drugged marshmallows and handed the bag to Draco for him to take with him. She didn't expect her stuff to be searched, but just in case it was she didn't want to have a bag of marshmallows on her. Once the marshmallows were sorted, Draco wrapped Hermione back in his arms and they stood in a silent embrace as they waited for Lucius to return. Draco's father returned a few minutes later, a triumphant smirk on his lips.

"It's done," he announced. "Potter's dead."

"Good," Hermione answered as she stepped out of Draco's arms. "Thank you Lucius."

"I'm just making sure he got what he deserved," Lucius told the young witch. "Your mother and father deserve retribution."

"Yes, they do," Hermione agreed.

After making arrangements to visit the manor as soon as she could, Hermione saw Draco and Lucius out and locked the door behind them. She then headed off for bed as the sleeping draught was starting to kick in and she was feeling drowsy.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

The next morning, Hermione was woken by Lily's bloodcurdling screams. Still feeling slightly sleepy, Hermione stumbled out of bed and made her way into the hallway. Harry and Sirius had obviously both been awoken by Lily's screams as both wizards were making their way into James and Lily's bedroom. Hermione hung back in the hallway as she heard Harry's anguished cry and Lily sobbing.

To be honest Hermione had expected to be more affected by the Potters grief, but all she could think about was how much they deserved to suffer. They'd robbed her of her family, now she was going to destroy their lives. If only they'd left her and her parents alone when she'd been younger, all of this could have been avoided. Instead they were suffering for interfering in her life and murdering her parents.

As it turned out, Hermione was pleased that Sirius had stayed the night. Lily was in no fit state to do anything after discovering James's body so it was his best friend that took charge. After seeing what was happening, Sirius ushered Lily and Harry out of the bedroom and settled them in the front room. After explaining to Hermione what had happened, he left her to make some tea as he went off to inform the authorities of what had happened.

Within an hour of getting up the house was swarming with officials from the Ministry. Somehow Dumbledore had also found out what was going on and once he arrived he took charge, leaving Sirius to comfort Lily and Harry. Hermione meanwhile just sat back, pretending to be shocked and shaken up by events.

By lunchtime it had been determined that James had been killed by the killing curse, but there was no sign of his killer entering the house. The healer examining James also discovered he'd been drugged, and a few simple tests proved the whole house had been dosed with a sleeping draught.

"How were we drugged?" Sirius demanded. "No-one was here but us."

"It's quite possibly something you ate or drank last night," Kingsley Shackelbolt told Sirius. He was at the house as one of the Aurors investigating James's death, but he was also a member of the Order therefore he was a friend of sorts to the family. "We're bagging everything in the kitchen, but if it was something that was all consumed we may never find out what was used to drug you."

"And how about getting into the house? How did the killer manage that?" Sirius questioned.

"The house doesn't have any special wards to sound an intruder alert. Most likely the culprit merely unlocked the door using magic and locked it again when they left," Kingsley answered. "We've got a team outside, looking for clues."

"I think if that's it, Kingsley we should get Lily, Harry and Hermione out of here," Dumbledore said to the Auror.

"Of course," Kingsley nodded.

"Sirius, you can take Lily and Harry can't you?" Dumbledore checked. "I don't think it's wise for them to stay here at the minute."

"Of course," Sirius answered. "We'll head back to mine."

"I'll be along shortly, but I think it's time I took Miss Granger home," Dumbledore said. "Is that okay with you?" he asked Hermione.

Hermione nodded at Dumbledore as she stood up and made her way over to Harry. After giving her friend a hug and promising to see him soon she went to grab her bags and let Dumbledore escort her home. When they arrived home, Dumbledore came inside with her and told her parents what had happened. Both her parents were shocked by the news and asked Dumbledore to keep them informed of funeral arrangements and stuff like that. Dumbledore promised he would do just that, and after checking Hermione was okay, he left to return to Harry and Lily. No doubt he would be worrying about the way James had died and what it meant for him and the others who had been present at Voldemort's murder.


	23. Chapter 23

Spending the first few days of the holidays with the Potters meant it was practically Christmas when Hermione returned home. As such her mother had already started her holidays and Hermione couldn't get away to the manor. Draco had visited a couple of nights, but he was also busy with his family over the holidays. As much as Hermione wanted to visit the manor, she also wanted to spend some time with her parents. She had no idea what would happen once she left school and for all she knew this could be the last Christmas she really spent with Jean and Richard, and she was determined to have a good time.

In the end Christmas wasn't quite as fun as Hermione had hoped for. James's death was still so recent that it cast a shadow over events. Jean and Richard were clearly upset at his death, and several times they wondered out loud when his funeral would be. By the time her parents headed back to work the day after Boxing Day, Hermione was thrilled to be rid of them. At least now she could visit the manor a couple of days, before they heard when James's funeral was and she was obliged to attend.

The first day her parents headed off to work, Hermione grabbed her bag and had left the house within an hour of her parents leaving. Heading to a quiet spot nearby, Hermione pulled out her wand and apparated to the manor. The wards of the manor still prevented her from apparating directly into the house itself, but Hermione was more than happy to arrive in the grounds of the beautiful house. Besides, she knew her arrival would still trigger a warning inside the house so Draco and his family should know she was arriving. Sure enough by the time Hermione reached the front door, Draco was waiting for her.

"Hi," Draco smiled at Hermione as he pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss.

"Hi," Hermione replied. "You don't mind me visiting, do you?"

"You can visit whenever you want," Draco answered.

"Your parents don't mind me just popping up do they?" Hermione checked. She was guessing that Lucius would want to talk about the next stages of her plan, but she didn't want to appear rude by just showing up at the Manor.

"Of course not, they've been dying to see you," Draco told his girlfriend. "As have my Aunt Bella and Uncle Rodolphus. Father's being singing your praises all holidays and they're dying to meet you."

"I hope I live up to their expectations," Hermione muttered as Draco took hold of her hand and led her towards the front room, where he told her his parents, Aunt and Uncle were waiting.

When Hermione entered the front room she didn't get too much of an opportunity to check out Bellatrix and Rodolphus before Narcissa was in front of her and sweeping her into a hug.

"Athena, it's so good to see you," Narcissa said.

"It's good to see you too," Hermione replied, smiling at Draco's mother. She'd missed Narcissa, and actually she missed being called Athena.

Lucius also greeted Hermione and checked everything was okay, although he refrained from hugging her. Narcissa then gestured to her sister and her brother-in-law, who were seated together on one of the sofas.

"Athena, this is my sister Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus."

"It's nice to meet you both," Hermione said to the couple.

"It's nice to meet you too," Bellatrix replied, appraisingly looking Hermione up and down. "Do you use the name Athena, or Hermione?" she checked. While Narcissa always called Voldemort's daughter Athena, Draco tended to call her Hermione.

"I'm still getting used to really being called Athena, so I tend to use Hermione," Hermione replied. "But if you would rather call me Athena, I have no problems with that."

"Athena is the name we know you as," Rodolphus said. "I think we might stick with that."

"That's fine," Hermione said as she sat down next to Draco.

"Lucius said you were like your father, and I have to admit I can see a bit of The Dark Lord in you," Bellatrix mused. "And your plan for vengeance is impressive, your father would be incredibly proud of you."

"Thank you," Hermione said. "Did you know my mother and father well?"

"I'm afraid we barely knew your mother," Bellatrix answered. "Rodolphus and I were loyal supporters of your father, but we spent a lot of time travelling. We knew your mother in passing, but she seemed like a good witch."

"You knew my father very well though, didn't you?"

"We did," Rodolphus nodded. "Your father was an inspiration to a lot of the wizarding world. I know you've been in contact with the Order, but you really shouldn't believe half of what they say about him. Yes he was dark, but he wasn't completely evil."

"I believe nothing the Order says," Hermione said fiercely. "They claim to be the light side, but they're more sinister than the dark side from where I'm sitting. The whole lot of them are rotten, and Dumbledore is just as power mad as my father ever was."

"The old fool definitely craves power," Bellatrix cackled. "And unfortunately your father stood in the way of him gaining that power. Without The Dark Lord around, he's considered the most powerful wizard in the world."

"He won't be by the time I've finished with him," Hermione vowed. "In a few months Dumbledore's reputation will be in tatters and he'll be six feet under."

"I take it your plans for Dumbledore are falling into place," Lucius said. So far Hermione hadn't divulged her full plans for Dumbledore, all he knew was that he was going to end up dead.

"They are," Hermione nodded. "I'm working on a plan as we speak. Once I'm sure it's going to work, I'll fill you in on it. But for now we've got plenty more to discuss, starting with the witch James is supposed to be having an affair with. I take it you have everything sorted there?"

"I do," Lucius confirmed. "All I need is the time and date of the funeral and we're good to go."

"I'll pass it along when I know what's happening," Hermione said. "What about once we return to school? Do you have things sorted with Sirius?"

"Everything is in hand," Lucius promised. "All you have to do is worry about your friends. I'll deal with the other Weasleys and Black."

"Thank you," Hermione smiled at Lucius. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Don't worry about it, that's what family is for," Lucius replied.

"Oh yes, I forgot you were part of the family," Bellatrix grinned. "Have you thought about your marriage yet?"

"Slow down Aunt Bella," Draco told his Aunt. "We may be bonded, but we don't need to get married just yet. Hermione's going to get her revenge before we think about the future."

"Don't wait too long," Bellatrix warned. "The future has a nasty habit of popping up before you're ready for it. You've only got another six months of school, and they will fly past, believe me."

"I don't really think this is something that needs to be discussed right now," Narcissa said, deciding to move the subject along to save her son and his girlfriend from embarrassment. "Draco and Athena can deal with their own personal relationship in their own time. I suggest we leave any decisions about marriage to them, and talk about something else."

Taking Narcissa's hint, Rodolphus started talking about travelling and where he and Bellatrix were heading after Christmas, which of course included a trip to Romania to assist in Hermione's plan to hurt the Weasleys. As Rodolphus and Bellatrix were talking about their travels, Hermione mouthed a thank you to Narcissa. She'd never really considered that the bond she had with Draco would mean they would get married, but now the topic had been raised it was all she could think about.

All morning thoughts of marriage plagued Hermione, and she was still dwelling on the topic after lunch when she and Draco headed up to his wing of the manor. Draco had also been pretty quiet all morning and Hermione suspected that he was also thinking about the future. She was just hoping that he wasn't cursing the bond and wishing he could marry someone else instead of her.

"We really should talk about this, shouldn't we?" Hermione sighed as she flopped down on Draco's bed.

"Talk about what?" Draco asked as he settled next to his girlfriend.

"You know what." Hermione rolled over and propped herself up on her arm as she studied her boyfriend. "We've never discussed the bond, or what it means for our future."

"I can't see it makes any difference personally," Draco said, moving so he was lying propped up on his side, facing his girlfriend. "I was prepared to give up everything for you last summer. I knew then that what we have is the real thing. The thought of marrying you has been in my head since last year. The bond doesn't change that Hermione, it just makes marrying you a definite point in the future, instead of a wish I had."

"You'd really thought about us getting married last year?" Hermione asked.

"Of course," Draco nodded. "As I said, I was prepared to give up my family for you. I wouldn't have been willing to do that unless I knew we were serious and had a real future together."

"Do you want to get married soon, or would you rather wait a few years?" Hermione questioned.

"I'd marry you tomorrow if it were possible," Draco replied as he pushed a strand of unruly hair behind Hermione's ear. "But I'll leave that entirely up to you. We can get married whenever you're ready."

"Maybe we can talk about it in a few weeks," Hermione suggested. "Once all my plans are in place and I'll know when my vengeance will be complete."

"We can talk about it whenever you want," Draco said, leaning forward and brushing his lips against Hermione's.

"There is one other thing," Hermione said, stopping Draco before he gave her a kiss that would ramp up the temperature and make her forget what she wanted to say. "Do you think you could call me Athena for the next hour or so?"

"You mean while we're in bed?" Draco checked. It was fairly obvious that before long their clothes would be coming off and they would be indulging in a bit of fun.

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "I'm fairly sure that by the end of the year I'm going to drop Hermione and go back to being Athena. But I need to know what it feels like to be called Athena by more than your mother."

"I thought you liked your name," Draco frowned, not understanding where the desire to be called Athena had come from.

"I do, but just lately I've been wondering who picked my name," Hermione admitted. "You saw the memories of what happened with my parents. The morning after they were killed Dumbledore knew my name. Did he pick it and tell the Grangers that's what I was called, or did they pick the name and tell him what they were calling me?"

"And you can't find out who picked your name just yet," Draco concluded. "Until the truth comes out, you can't ask your parents about your name."

"Exactly," Hermione smiled, loving that Draco instantly knew where she was coming from. "I know if Dumbledore picked Hermione out for me that I will never use the name again, but if my parents picked it I might still use it. However, my name is Athena and I want to reclaim my identity."

"If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do," Draco said. "I'm sure I can get used to calling you Athena."

"We'll start off a bit at a time," Hermione said. "For now, you're not to call me Hermione until I'm getting ready to leave for the day."

"Anything you say, Athena," Draco grinned, rolling over and pinning Hermione underneath him before he connected their lips in a searing kiss that ended their conversation for a good few hours.

True to his word, Draco used the name Athena all afternoon and Hermione found she really liked it. She especially loved the way it rolled off Draco's tongue when he was moaning her name as they made love. In fact it came so easily to her boyfriend she had to wonder if he'd been calling her Athena in his thoughts, or if it was so easy to change her name because of the connection they shared and he could sense how attached she was becoming to the name. Athena Riddle was no longer just a name from her past to Hermione, with each passing day it was becoming her true identity.


	24. Chapter 24

Hermione straightened her black dress and slipped on her shoes before grabbing her jacket and leaving the bedroom to head downstairs. It was the day of James's funeral and Hermione was attending with her parents. The plan was to floo to The Burrow and they would head to Godric's Hollow with the Weasley family. The Weasleys themselves had only just returned from Egypt, and since Hermione hadn't spoken to any of them she had no idea what the situation with Bill was. However, she did suspect that most of them were home to stay as school started again in a few days' time.

"Come on, we're going to be late," Jean called as Hermione entered the front room.

"We've got plenty of time," Richard told his wife. "Hermione, do you want to go first?" he asked his daughter.

As usual Arthur had ensured the floo network was set up so they could get to The Burrow easily. Grabbing a handful of floo powder, Hermione stepped into the flames and headed off to The Burrow. Her parents followed close behind and within minutes the Grangers were standing in the front room of the Weasleys house.

"It's all so sad, isn't it?" Molly sighed as she entered the room and greeted the family.

"It's tragic," Jean said sadly. "Have you seen Lily? How's she's coping?"

"I haven't seen her yet," Molly answered. "I've spoken to Sirius, and he reckons she's in a bad way."

"What about Harry?" Hermione questioned. "Do you know how he is?"

"Sirius mentioned he's been awfully quiet," Molly said. "I'm sure having you and Ron around will help him cope."

Hermione nodded politely, not really knowing what to say. Luckily her father changed the subject easily enough by enquiring about Bill. Molly told them that Bill was still in a coma but they were arranging to have him transferred to St Mungo's so that visiting him would be easier. Hermione was also quite pleased to hear Molly mention the coast of moving Bill wasn't cheap. Between hospital bills and the twins impending trouble, it looked like things were about to become even tighter for the family.

"I guess we should be going," Molly said, checking the time. "I'll go and round up my lot, then we can leave."

It took Molly all of five minutes to gather her family in the front room. Of course the moment Ron saw Hermione he gave her a hug and she had to endure him holding onto her hand. Luckily the hand holding only lasted a few minutes before Molly announced it was time to leave.

Aside from Ginny everyone had their apparition licence, so it was decided that apparition was the best way of travelling. Molly and Arthur had already decided to each take one of Hermione's parents and Ginny was entrusted into the care of the twins. For once Fred and George weren't their usual joking selves and they both held onto Ginny as they apparated them to Godric's Hollow.

"Ugh," Jean grimaced the moment her and Molly landed at Godric's Hollow. "That's an awful way to travel."

"Side along apparition is never very pleasant," Molly remarked. "Especially if you're new to the experience."

Once everyone had arrived the group made their way to the chapel that stood at the far end of the village. The chapel was already packed with people, but Sirius was standing outside greeting people and thanking them for coming.

"How's Lily and Harry?" Molly asked as the family greeted Sirius.

"Harry's being strong for Lily, but she's a bit of a mess," Sirius replied quietly. "They're both inside, I volunteered to thank people for coming."

"You're a good friend, Sirius," Arthur said to the other wizard.

"I try," Sirius replied with a sad smile. "How are you, Hermione?" he asked, spotting Harry's friend with the Weasleys and wondering how she was coping after being present when James had died.

"I'm okay," Hermione replied.

"We best get inside," Molly said as Remus Lupin approached and told Sirius that it was nearly time to bring James into the chapel.

Hermione followed her parents and the Weasleys inside the chapel, all the time looking at the guests. Most of them she recognised and she couldn't see anyone who looked like they were there posing as James's lover. Hermione had passed on the funeral information to Lucius and he'd promised her there'd be fireworks. Trusting that Lucius would deliver, Hermione slid into her seat in between Ron and Ginny. The family were sitting in the row behind Harry and Lily and both Potters had turned and sadly greeted their friends.

"Harry looks terrible," Ron whispered to Hermione.

"So would you if your father had just died," Hermione whispered back.

"He didn't just die though, he was killed," Ron replied, still keeping quiet. "That has to be worse for Harry."

"I'm sure it does," Hermione agreed. "Hopefully we'll get to talk to him after the service."

Ron nodded, but before he had a chance to speak low music began to play and everyone stood up. Turning her head, Hermione watched as Sirius and Lupin carried James's coffin into the chapel with the help of Frank Longbottom and Kingsley Shackelbolt. The coffin was greeted with cries of anguish and sobbing could be heard almost all over the chapel.

With everyone so focused on their grief most of them failed to spot the witch who entered the chapel directly behind the funeral party. Hermione however did spot her and she watched with interest as the witch settled herself at the back of the chapel. The witch in question was dressed all in black and she was wearing a black hat with an attached veil that covered her face. Hermione knew that the witch was the friend of Lucius's who was going to cause trouble and as she turned back to the front she wondered when the fireworks would begin.

Hermione actually had to wait a while before anything happened. The witch sat respectfully at the back of the room as the service to celebrate James's life took place. It wasn't until people began making their way to the graveside that Hermione realised that was where the fun was about to begin. Again most people had been too upset to notice the mystery witch, but Hermione was acutely aware of the woman in black hovering off to the side of the group who were gathering at the graveside.

At the graveside the minister said a few more words about James and as he was speaking Hermione saw the witch moving through the crowds at the other side of the graveside so she was eventually standing at the front. Once she was front and centre her loud sobs could be heard by everyone and people started to take notice of the witch in black who was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Who's that?" Ron whispered to Hermione as people began to whisper about the witch that looked just as upset as Lily.

"I have no idea," Hermione replied.

"Oh, James," the witch suddenly wailed as she dropped to her knees beside the grave. "Why did you have to leave me?"

"What on earth is going on here?" Sirius demanded from where he was standing holding onto Lily's arm to support her. "Who is that woman?"

"I've never seen her before," Lily whispered.

"I'll deal with it," Remus offered.

Remus quickly made his way to the other side of the grave and leaned down to speak to the mystery witch as everyone watched and waited to see what would happen.

"Excuse me, I think you may have the wrong funeral," Remus said quietly.

"No, this is my James's funeral," the witch wailed loudly.

"Sorry, but this is the funeral of James Potter," Remus replied. "That's his wife and son over there," he added, gesturing to Lily and Harry over the other side of the grave.

"I know who they are," the witch snarled, getting to her feet and glaring over at the Potter's. "That bitch murdered the love of my life. James was leaving her to be with me, and she killed him to stop him from going."

"Don't be so ridiculous," Sirius scoffed. "I don't know who the hell you are, but you need to leave. Your lies will not be tolerated here."

"They're not lies," the witch replied. "James and I were having an affair for months. He was only sticking around so that Harry could finish school, then he was going to leave with me. But last month I discovered I was pregnant, and we decided to move our plans forwards. James was going to leave his bitch of a wife over Christmas, but she killed him before that could happen."

"That's not true," Lily whispered in shock. "James would never do that to me."

"I can prove it," the witch smirked evilly. "I have plenty of memories I can share with you. Of course a lot of them are sexual. James and I spent a lot of time in bed. We were at it all the time, he couldn't get enough of me."

"Stop it," Harry shouted when Lily collapsed onto the floor in tears. "Get lost, you heartless cow. My father wouldn't have gone near you. He loved my mother, and he wasn't leaving us."

"You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart," the witch cackled. "Your father couldn't wait to get away. He was thrilled when I told him I was having a baby. We were going to be a family, just me, him and the baby."

"I think it's best you leave now," Remus said firmly to the witch beside him. "You've caused enough trouble."

"I haven't even started yet," the witch replied threateningly. "That bitch killed my James, and I intend to prove it. Because of her, my baby will grow up without a father. I'm warning you Lily Potter, I'm going to get you."

Before Lupin or anyone else had a chance to react the witch had pulled out her wand and she disappeared from the graveyard with a crack. For a while everyone stood in stunned silence, before the minister gently suggested they got on with burying James.

As the remainder of the funeral took place, Hermione contemplated the display she'd just witnessed. She'd been totally surprised by the mention of a pregnancy, but at the same time she thought it was a touch of brilliance. No doubt a miscarriage would be faked along with Sirius's attack on his best friend's mistress. Hermione also had no doubt that word would spread about James's supposed affair. Before long almost the entire wizarding community would know that James Potter had been cheating on his wife and planned on leaving his family for his pregnant mistress.

Finally the service was over and while most of the guests headed to the village pub where a wake had been set up, Sirius insisted on taking Lily back to his place as she clearly wasn't coping. Molly insisted the rest of the family head on to the pub while she and Jean went back with Sirius to make sure Lily was alright. Harry also insisted on heading home with his mother so Hermione and Ron went with their friend.

While the adults settled inside the house, Harry led the way into the back garden. Despite the cold, he sat down on a bench and placed his head in his hands. Not wanting to get cold, Hermione conjured a small fire and placed a heating charm around the bench where Harry had settled himself. She then joined her friend on the bench, and Ron sat down on the other side of Harry.

"I'm sorry Harry, I don't know what to say," Hermione said gently.

"She's lying," Harry said, looking up at Hermione with tears in his eyes. "Dad wasn't cheating on Mum."

"I never thought he was," Hermione reassured her friend. "I meant I'm sorry about your Dad. I don't know the right thing to say to help you."

"I don't think there is a right thing to say," Harry said sadly. "It helps that you and Ron are here for me."

"We're not going anywhere," Ron promised.

"Thanks," Harry smiled at his two best friends. "Maybe you can help me find out who that woman was and why she's trying to cause trouble."

"Surely Sirius will be doing something like that," Ron said. "He won't just stand by while people lie about your Dad."

"I'm sure Sirius will be out to discover the truth, but I also want to know the truth," Harry said. "I want to know what she's up to, and who's behind her lies."

"It sounds like you already have a theory," Hermione remarked.

"I do," Harry nodded. "I think the Death Eaters, and Lucius Malfoy in particular, are behind my father's death. I also think they're behind what happened today."

"Okay, I can see why you would think they killed your Dad, but the bit today doesn't make sense," Ron said cautiously, not wanting to upset his friend. "Why would they get some woman to pretend to be having an affair with your father? It's not really something the Death Eaters would do."

"I don't know why, that why we need to investigate," Harry said. "Maybe they're trying to get to my Mum so she tells them about Athena."

"Of course," Ron nodded, happily jumping on board with Harry's latest theory. "If they rattle your Mum, they might be able to get to her and get her to tell them what she knows."

"That's assuming the Death Eaters think Lily knows more than she's letting on," Hermione said. "As far as they know, she knows what the rest of the Order does, which is that Athena was killed alongside her parents years ago."

"The Death Eaters clearly aren't buying Dumbledore's lies so it makes sense that they'll think the Order knows the truth about her being alive," Harry argued. "Everyone knows my parents are high up within the Order, maybe all this is to get information from my mother."

"Maybe," Hermione shrugged. "But it's going to be awfully difficult to prove."

"I know," Harry sighed disappointedly before shaking his head and becoming determined again. "But someone killed my Dad, and I intend to make that person pay."

"And what if we can't find out who killed your father?" Ron questioned.

"Then I'm going to get Mum to tell me everything she knows about Athena," Harry announced. "I'm convinced she knows more than she's saying, and I think she knows where she is."

"What are you going to do when you have that information?" Hermione asked, wondering if they were going to have a problem.

"I haven't decided yet, but she's the reason for all of this. She might not have killed my father with her own hands, but she's the reason for his death. If only she'd died when she was a baby then none of this would be happening. I would still have my Dad and my Mum wouldn't be a mess," Harry said.

Even though Harry didn't say what he was going to do if he found out where Athena was, Hermione was left in no doubt that if Harry ever discovered the truth and got his hands on her that she wouldn't survive. Not that Hermione was planning on letting that happen. She was fairly confident that Lily wouldn't tell Harry what she knew about Athena, or at least she wouldn't do it without a lot of persuading. With school starting in a few days' time and Lily still so devastated about James she doubted Harry would push his mother for answers at the moment. The very earliest he could press her for information was the Easter holidays, so Hermione would just have to make sure her friend was too distracted to think about finding out more about Athena. After that it wouldn't matter as she was planning on revealing her identity to everyone before the end of the year anyway, and when she did reveal who she truly was she was going to make sure she was completely untouchable when she did so.


	25. Chapter 25

Hermione was pleased to find that once they returned to school in the New Year, Harry wasn't quite as insistent on finding out more about Athena. On the train ride up to Hogwarts, Harry explained that he'd had a long talk with Sirius and his godfather would be handling things with the mystery woman who'd appeared at James's funeral.

"So we're just forgetting about Athena?" Ron questioned with a frown.

"No, I'm still interested in finding out more about her, but I promised Sirius I would let him handle things," Harry explained. "He promised to get to the bottom of what was happening with that witch that ruined Dad's funeral, and I promised to keep my head down and stay out of trouble. Sirius did promise me he would speak to me more about Athena once things had calmed down."

"How much do you think Sirius knows?" Ron asked eagerly. It hadn't really been appropriate to bring up Athena with his parents over the holidays, but he suspected they wouldn't have told him anything anyway.

"I think Sirius knows as much as my Mum," Harry replied. "Like Mum and Dad he's a major part of the Order, and like Dad he was there the night Voldemort was defeated. I'm hoping that by staying out of trouble for a while I can persuade Sirius to talk to me about Athena over the Easter holidays."

"Did he not give you any clue about what he knows?" Hermione asked. She wasn't worrying about Sirius talking to Harry as by Easter he would be in Azkaban, but she was curious to know if he'd mentioned anything else about her.

"Not really," Harry sighed. "But he's just as adamant as Dumbledore that she's not involved in the attacks or my Dad's death."

"We already knew that," Ron snorted. "We know she isn't behind the attacks, because she's the reason for the attacks. The Death Eaters are looking for her, not taking orders off her."

"Is there any official word on who killed James?" Hermione asked Harry, who was busy agreeing with Ron's logic regarding the Death Eater attacks.

"Officially the Aurors are stumped, but unofficially Dumbledore and the Order are treating is as a Death Eater attack," Harry replied. "I don't know all the details, but from what I've heard they think Dad was targeted as a prominent supporter of Dumbledore's. Everyone else is on high alert in case they strike again."

"Do you think that's likely?" Ron asked worriedly. His entire family were well known supporters of Dumbledore and he hated to think one of them would be targeted.

"Who knows?" Harry shrugged. "I hope not, but I guess it's better to be prepared."

"Well we can't spend all our time worrying," Hermione said, trying to dispel the gloomy atmosphere that had fallen in the carriage. "We're safe up at Hogwarts and we just have to trust that Dumbledore and the Order can keep everyone else safe as well."

"Hermione's right," Harry said. "I don't want to dwell on what's happened or what might happen. I say we forget about the Death Eaters for a while and try and enjoy our last few months of school. I know Dad wouldn't want us worrying all the time, he would want us to get on with things."

Harry declaration lifted spirits somewhat and the sombre atmosphere lifted as Harry and Ron settled down to play exploding snap. Hermione sat reading in the corner for nearly an hour before a few of the other Gryffindors poked their heads into the carriage to see how Harry was coping. As their other friends sat down with them and the talk switched to James and how much Harry missed his father, Hermione excused herself and left the compartment. Luckily she was able to use the excuse she needed to check everything was okay as her position as Head Girl.

Hermione wandered up and down the train corridors for nearly an hour. She even encountered a few students who needed her help with various things, which managed to keep her away from the compartment for even longer. Eventually though she couldn't avoid heading back to Harry and Ron any longer, and she was forced to return to her compartment. Luckily everyone else had dispersed again and it was just Harry and Ron sitting quietly as they both had magazines propped in their laps.

"Was everything alright?" Ron asked as Hermione settled down beside him.

"The Slytherins weren't causing trouble, were they?" Harry checked.

"I only saw a couple of Slytherins, and they were sitting in their compartments," Hermione answered. "There was no major trouble, everything was nice and quiet."

"Let's hope it lasts the rest of the term." Harry said wistfully as the trio settled down to enjoy the remainder of the journey up to Hogwarts.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Within a fortnight of being back at school, Hermione was getting increasingly frustrated with her inability to see Draco. It was clear almost immediately that Dumbledore was keeping an even closer eye on her than normal. Almost everywhere Hermione went, Dumbledore showed up and several times Hermione had to blank Draco as she passed him because the headmaster was prowling around. Luckily he didn't seem too suspicious of her, just wary about who she was interacting with. Because of Dumbledore's watchful actions, Hermione hadn't managed to spend any time with her boyfriend, meaning not only did she miss him personally but she was missing out on knowing what was happening with various things in her plot for revenge.

As a result of not being able to spend time with Draco, Hermione found herself spending more time with Ron. In one respect it repulsed her to be kissing Ron and acting as though she loved him, but in another way it helped her move her plans along. While sex had never been mentioned since their initial conversation, Hermione had made sure their kisses were slightly more heated and she was very aware of how she affected Ron. Hermione was confident that Ron's mind was constantly filled with thoughts of taking her to bed, now all she had to do was manipulate him into a position that he felt the time was right to propose.

Luckily for Hermione she got unwitting assistance in her plan when Ginny arrived in her dorm room, asking if she could talk. As Head Girl, Hermione had her own private room so the pair knew they would be undisturbed as they settled down for a girly chat.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked Ginny as the redhead settled down at the bottom of Hermione's bed.

"Everything's fine," Ginny smiled. "I just fancied a chat. I feel like I haven't really seen you since before Christmas."

"Head Girl duties tend to keep me pretty busy," Hermione replied. Unfortunately since Christmas it had been Head Girl duties that were keeping her away from Gryffindor Tower, not more pleasurable activities like spending time with Draco.

"Rather you than me," Ginny said. "I don't know how you handle all the responsibility. It would bore me to death having to arrange the prefects and doing all those extra patrols as Head Girl."

"It's not so bad," Hermione shrugged. "I actually like it."

"I'm sure you do," Ginny chuckled.

"I'm sure you didn't come up here to talk about head duties," Hermione said, studying Ginny and wondering what exactly she was up to. "Why exactly are you here, Ginny? Do you want to talk about Harry?"

"No." Ginny shook her head as she sat up and crossed her legs. "With everything Harry's going through, I've decided to just be there for him as a friend. He's grieving for his father, the last thing he needs is romantic entanglements."

"I don't suppose his decision making will be the best right now," Hermione mused. "Chances are if he did get involved with someone it would be as a result of his grief and it would never work."

"Exactly." Ginny smiled as Hermione nailed the reason she was backing off from Harry for the time being. "Hopefully Harry and I can eventually get together sometime in the future, but it's not the right time at the minute."

"Okay so if it's not Harry you've come to discuss, who is it?" Hermione asked. She was beginning to wonder if Theo's charms were working on Ginny and it was the Slytherin boy that her friend had come to discuss.

"I'm not here to discuss my love life, I'm here to discuss yours," Ginny replied. "You can tell me to mind my own business, but I was just wondering how things were going with you and Ron. You seem to be getting along rather well."

"We are," Hermione said, smiling at the opportunity that Ginny had presented her with. This was the perfect time to make sure Ginny thought she was serious about her brother.

"I'm so pleased for you two," Ginny grinned. "I know last year Ron was so upset when you knocked him back, I'm so pleased you changed your mind and gave him a chance."

"So am I," Hermione lied. "I was worried he wouldn't want to know after I rejected him, but luckily for me he was still interested."

"Of course he was, he's been in love with you for years," Ginny replied with a laugh. "You could have knocked him back a million times and he still would have jumped at the chance to go out with you."

"Do you really think Ron is in love with me?" Hermione asked, pretending as though Ginny was telling her something she didn't already know.

"Of course he is," Ginny answered firmly. "And what about you, how do you feel about him?"

"I think I love him as well." Hermione answered.

"You only think?" Ginny questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Come on Hermione, you either love him or you don't."

"I do," Hermione said with a firm nod. "I love him," she added with a smile.

Ginny squealed in excitement as she leaned over and hugged Hermione. "That's so great," she exclaimed as she sat back down in front of Hermione. "Now can I ask you a personal question?"

"I guess so," Hermione said warily, wondering what Ginny was going to ask her.

"Why haven't you slept together?" Ginny blurted out.

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked, faking a blush as she pretended to be embarrassed.

"Fred and George were teasing Ron over Christmas and he muttered a few things that led me to believe the pair of you haven't slept together yet," Ginny explained. "I'm sorry if I sounded rude, I was just shocked. I've seen the pair of you together and you look to be getting more serious, especially these last couple of weeks."

"How do you know we haven't slept together since Christmas?" Hermione asked, keeping her head lowered so Ginny couldn't see how delighted she was in the turn the conversation had took.

"I don't, but I'm guessing you still haven't," Ginny replied with a shrug.

"You're right, we haven't slept together," Hermione admitted, finally looking up at Ginny so they could talk properly.

"Why not? Are you not physically attracted to Ron? I know he's not the best looking boy in school, but you seem to like him."

"I do like him, that's not the issue. In fact I really want to sleep with him, I just can't."

"Why?" Ginny eyed Hermione warily. "Is there something wrong with you?"

"No." Hermione laughed as she shook her head. "I've just been brought up to believe you don't have sex before marriage."

"Whoa, that's not what I was expecting you to say," Ginny admitted. "You do realise how implausible that is, don't you? You won't find many guys willing to wait until marriage before wanting sex."

"I know, and I am willing to be flexible," Hermione said. "However, I only plan on sleeping with one man in my entire life. Whoever I give my virginity to is the man I'm going to be with for the rest of my life. As much as I love Ron and hope we have a future together, I can't guarantee that at the minute. I don't want to take that final step before I know we're going to be together in the long term."

"Like if you were engaged or something," Ginny said.

Hermione nodded, pleased Ginny had understood what she was implying. "Exactly. If I knew marriage was around the corner, I wouldn't expect Ron to wait until our wedding night."

"Have you told Ron this?" Ginny questioned.

"I've mentioned my beliefs on sex before marriage, but we've never discussed the subject in detail," Hermione said. "And I don't really want to bring it up again. The last thing I want is for Ron to think I'm pressuring him into proposing or anything."

"I'm sure he wouldn't think that," Ginny said.

"I'm not taking that risk," Hermione told Ginny. "We'll carry on the way we are and I guess one day we'll either reach the point where we get engaged or we'll split up."

"It's your choice," Ginny told Hermione, before changing the subject to the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend the following month.

Despite the change of subject Hermione was confident that Ginny would mull over what she'd been told and eventually she would tell Ron and plant the idea of proposing in his head. As it turned out Ginny didn't even wait a few hours before running to her brother and telling him he needed to propose to Hermione. While Hermione hadn't specifically said she wanted Ron to propose to her, Ginny could read between the lines and she knew that was what her friend wanted. Now all she had to do was convince Ron that asking Hermione to marry him was the best thing he could do for his relationship.


	26. Chapter 26

Draco slunk around Hogsmeade, wondering if he could find a way to speak to Hermione. They'd been back at school for just over a month and so far he'd seen his girlfriend once. Dumbledore was keeping an exceptionally close eye on Hermione and she'd only been able to sneak down to their secret room one evening when Severus had been able to reassure them that the Headmaster was in a staff meeting and would be busy all evening.

Since that was their only meeting they'd had to concentrate on Hermione's plans for vengeance so they'd had precious little time for themselves. Draco had reassured Hermione that Lucius was pleased with how things were progressing with Sirius, and things were being set up in regards to the twin's investor pulling out of the business and an accident for Charlie. Hermione had told Draco that her plans with Ron were working well, and he told her that Theo was beginning to make progress with Ginny.

Draco just wished they could meet up more regularly, so they would actually be able to spend some time together focusing on their relationship. As much as he was loving the plotting and scheming that went along with Hermione's need for vengeance, he missed spending time with his girlfriend. At the minute he would give anything just to spend a few hours alone with Hermione when they weren't plotting something or other.

Knowing that sulking wasn't going to get him anywhere, Draco stalked off to the bookshop. He knew if he remained in the shop long enough that Hermione would eventually show up and the chances of her having Potter and Weasley with her were slim to none. He knew the pair rarely ventured into the bookshop, so it could be his only opportunity to get Hermione alone. Even five minutes would be good considering how little time they'd had together recently.

When Draco arrived in the bookshop, Hermione was nowhere to be seen. Luckily he could spend almost as much time in the shop as his girlfriend and he had no trouble filling his time by browsing the shelves and even picking himself a few new books to buy. As it turned out Draco was in the bookshop for nearly forty minutes before he heard his girlfriend cheerily greeting the witch serving behind the counter. Making sure he remained in the shadows, Draco watched Hermione and waited until she was alone in one of the back aisles before making his move. Casting the same charm around the area that he had just before the attack on Hogsmeade, Draco slipped into the aisle with his girlfriend knowing no-one would disturb them.

"It took you long enough," Hermione said, turning to face her boyfriend before he even had a chance to let her know he was there. "I thought you were never going to approach me."

"I was waiting until you were in a suitable place," Draco retorted. "I can only use the spell in certain areas of the shop without it being noticeable."

"And here was me thinking you were just turning into a stalker," Hermione replied, smirking at her boyfriend.

"I bloody well feel like a stalker," Draco muttered as he closed the distance between himself and Hermione. "This last month has been torture, I don't think I can last until Easter like this."

"I know," Hermione sighed as she took hold of Draco's hand. "But Dumbledore is always around at the minute."

"Do you think he's starting to become suspicious?" Draco asked. He'd assumed Dumbledore was just being cautious given the fact Potter's father had just been killed, but maybe the headmaster sensed something wasn't right with Hermione.

"No, I think he's just being careful," Hermione replied. "I don't know if he's worried that Lily or Sirius might have said something about me when they were upset. I don't get the impression he's worried about what I might do, I get the impression he's checking I'm okay."

"So he's either worried that they've told you and you're going to get upset or go off the deep end, or he's worried they've told Potter and he's going to turn on you," Draco said.

"I think so," Hermione said. "Of course I don't know for sure, all we can do is be careful when he's being so cautious. I'm hoping if he is worried about what someone might know then he'll start backing off when he realises that everything is just the same as it always is."

"Let's hope that's the case," Draco said. "I miss my girlfriend. Do you have any idea how long it is since I've last kissed you?"

"Too long," Hermione replied. "Although we're making it even longer by talking."

"Let's rectify the situation then," Draco grinned as he lowered his head to Hermione's.

Draco pressed Hermione into the bookshelves behind her and she wrapped her arms around his neck as the pair kissed. With such a long time having passed since their last encounter both Hermione and Draco were more eager than usual and the kissing soon took a more heated turn. When hands started to wander and Draco seriously contemplated taking Hermione right there in the shop, he decided it was best to end things so he reluctantly pulled away from his girlfriend.

"I was enjoying that," Hermione pouted as Draco disentangled himself from her embrace.

"So was I," Draco admitted. "In fact I was enjoying it so much I was seconds away from tearing off your clothes and shagging you right here and now."

"As hot as that sounds, it wouldn't have been a wise move," Hermione said, trying to control how aroused she was getting at the thought of doing naughty things in public.

"No, it wouldn't," Draco agreed. "We've come too far to let our hormones ruin things. As tough as it is, we'll have to wait until we can sneak some time alone."

"Hopefully it'll be soon," Hermione said with a small smile. "With any luck Dumbledore will get bored of watching my every move."

"Hopefully," Draco smiled back at Hermione. "Although I suppose we better be separating. The last thing we want is for your friends to come looking for you. If Dumbledore finds out you've been spending plenty of time away from them he might continue to watch you."

"Yeah, I really should be going," Hermione sighed, not wanting to leave the small bit of privacy she and Draco had together. "I'll try and get away some time tonight or tomorrow night. Even if it's only a few hours it's better than nothing."

"I'm sure we can find something pleasurable to do for a few hours," Draco grinned wickedly.

Hermione chuckled in response, and after promising to try her best to get away she disappeared from Draco's sight. Draco gave his girlfriend a few minutes to leave the shop before he exited the aisle and grabbed the books he'd left nearby. After paying for his books, he shrunk them and placed them in his pocket before leaving the bookshop. Instead of heading straight back up to school, Draco decided to first call at Honeydukes for a treat. He wasn't much of a sweet person but every now and again he liked to treat himself to something from the sweet shop.

Unfortunately for Draco he hadn't been in the shop for five minutes when Potter and Weasley made an appearance. A quick glance through the window of the shop revealed that Hermione was waiting outside, where she was happily talking to Ginny about something or another.

"Great, look who's here," Ron grumbled, spotting the blond Slytherin browsing the shelves.

"I may be good looking Weasley, but that's no reason to stare," Draco sneered at the redhead. "I don't want blood traitors like you looking at me."

"And we don't want snakes like you blocking our way," Harry retorted. "Move so we can get down this aisle."

"Go around the other way, I'm busy here," Draco replied, refusing to budge from his position in the centre of the aisle. He wasn't at all bothered by the display of peppermint mice in front of him, but he wasn't going to move just because Potter ordered him to.

"There is no other way," Ron spat. "Move or we'll make you."

"I'd like to see you try," Draco laughed.

Draco's laughter was abruptly cut off when Harry and Ron exchanged a look before simultaneously barging directly into Draco. Draco was taken so off guard by the move that he lost his footing and went crashing to the floor. Harry and Ron both laughed at the Slytherin sprawled on the floor and Ron deliberately made sure he placed his foot on Draco's hand as he went to move past him.

"Git," Draco swore, grabbing hold of Ron's other foot with his free hand and yanking the redhead off his feet.

Ron went crashing to the floor with so much force that a nearby display toppled over onto the floor. Immediately Harry helped Ron to his feet while Draco jumped to his own feet and stood glaring at the two Gryffindors.

"You'll pay for that," Draco promised the duo as he clutched at his hand that had been stood on.

"What are you going to do, run to Daddy and tell on us?" Harry taunted.

"At least I have a father to go running to," Draco retorted with an evil smirk. "Remind me Potter, where is your father? That's right, he's dead, and even if he wasn't he wouldn't have been here for you. He was going to run off with his mistress and begin a new life away from you and your filthy mudblood mother."

"Don't you dare talk about my father," Harry cried, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Draco. "Stupefy!"

Harry's spell shot out of his wand with so much force that Draco was blasted back against a shelf on the wall. When Draco went falling to the floor the shelf went with him and the blond boy was stuck stunned on the floor buried under sweets. Harry and Ron quickly approached their enemy as the shopkeeper started yelling at them for fighting. The commotion had also drew Hermione and Ginny's attention and the two girls burst into the shop.

"What the hell is going on?" Hermione demanded, gasping when she spotted Draco's familiar hair under a pile of sweets.

"We're giving Malfoy what he deserves," Harry answered, before throwing a stinging hex the blond boy's way.

The hex seemed to counter act the stunning curse and Draco let out a low groan of pain as the curse hit him and he began to move.

"Harry, stop it," Ginny cried, trying to grab onto Harry to stop him from inflicting more damage to the Slytherin.

"No." Harry brushed Ginny off and aimed another stinging hex at Draco.

"Enough," Hermione cried, pulling out her own wand and pointing it at Harry. "Expelliarmus!"

Instead of Harry's wand flying harmlessly into Hermione's hand, everyone was stunned when Harry went flying across the room and slammed into another shelf as his wand almost hit Hermione in the head it came to her with such force. While Ginny and Ron went rushing to Harry's aid, Hermione stood in shock, not sure what had happened. She'd cast a simple disarming spell, so she had no idea how Harry had gone flying across the room. She just hoped it wasn't a manifestation of her darkness and she would be exposed as a result of trying to protect Draco.

"I'm contacting the school," the shopkeeper announced angrily as she shooed the other students who were standing around watching out and closed up the shop. "I will not tolerate this sort of behaviour in my shop."

As the shopkeeper went off to summon someone from the school, Hermione walked over to where Draco was still lying on the floor. Acutely aware that Ginny and Ron were watching her as they tended to Harry, Hermione checked the Slytherin was okay. Draco was also aware enough to realise they were being watched so he snapped at Hermione as he managed to sit himself up. The two stinging hexes on top of the stunning spell had left him in a bit of pain, but he was able to subtly let Hermione know he was okay.

"It sounds like he's okay," Ron grumbled when Draco told Hermione to leave him alone.

"What about Harry, is he okay?" Hermione asked, genuinely worried in case she'd killed him. She may have wanted revenge, but she didn't want to kill Harry.

"He's unconscious," Ginny replied.

"I didn't mean to hurt him, I only wanted to stop him from getting into trouble," Hermione said as she approached Harry, Ron and Ginny.

"We know you didn't do this deliberately," Ron reassured Hermione. "Something clearly went wrong with the spell, I'm sure Dumbledore can sort it."

Hermione smiled weakly, feeling sick at the thought of Dumbledore investigating what had happened. The last thing she wanted was for him to look at her more closely, but she did need answers about what had happened. How on earth had a simple disarming spell caused so much havoc? And more importantly, would this spell the end of her plan for vengeance if Dumbledore decided to let everyone know who she truly was.


	27. Chapter 27

"I'm telling you, Malfoy had to have thrown a curse at me the same time as Hermione disarmed me," Harry insisted for the umpteenth time. "It's the only explanation."

"And I'm telling you, I did no such thing," Draco snarled from his bed across the hospital wing.

Both boys were now safely back in school and Dumbledore was trying to get to the bottom of what had happened. As well as Dumbledore being involved in trying to figure things out Professor's McGonagall and Snape were present, as was Sirius. Sirius had been up at the school discussing Order business with Dumbledore when word arrived about what had happened down in Hogsmeade and being worried about his godson he'd insisted on staying until he was sure Harry was all right.

"I hate to agree with Malfoy, but he couldn't have cast any curse on you," Ron cautiously told his best friend. "He was on the floor and there was no way he could get to his wand."

"It's true," Ginny agreed. "Whatever happened, Malfoy wasn't involved."

"I suspect that in her concern for Harry, Miss Granger may have gotten a bit overzealous in her spell casting," Dumbledore said, finally offering his opinion on what had happened.

"And knocked Harry off his feet?" Ron frowned. "Isn't that impossible? How can you knock someone off their feet while trying to disarm them?"

"Teenage emotions are often a cause for magic going a bit haywire," Dumbledore explained. "I've checked Miss Granger's wand, and I can't see any cause for concern. I think it was a fluke, but I will need to know if it ever happens again," he said, directing his last comment directly at Hermione.

"Of course," Hermione replied without hesitation. She was thrilled that Dumbledore's explanation was something so simple and that he didn't appear to be at all suspicious of her.

"Well then, I say we class it as an unfortunate accident and move on," Dumbledore suggested. "Miss Granger never meant for this to happen, and luckily Mr Potter is perfectly okay."

"And what are you planning on doing about the fighting?" Severus questioned. "Potter and Weasley deliberately picked a fight with Draco, and Potter even threw hexes at him."

"I don't think Mr Malfoy is entirely innocent," Dumbledore said, his distaste for the blond wizard evident on his face for a moment before he turned away. "I think detentions for the three boys is the best solution. Minerva, Severus, I'll leave that for the pair of you to deal with."

"Dealing with detentions can wait until later," Madam Pomfrey declared from across the room. "Mr Malfoy and Mr Potter both need to rest if they want to be released later on this evening."

"I suggest we leave the boys to rest then," Dumbledore said, looking around at the various people in the room.

McGonagall immediately left the room, while Severus headed over to have a quick word with Draco. Harry meanwhile got a brief goodbye from his friends and godfather before Dumbledore was ushering everyone from the room.

"You three should head back to your common room," Dumbledore told the three teenagers as they exited the hospital wing. "And Miss Granger, try not to worry and blame yourself. This was a pure accident, it could have happened to anyone."

"Thank you, Sir," Hermione said, smiling weakly at Dumbledore. While she was relieved that Dumbledore seemed happy to class the incident as an accident, she knew there was something else going on, she just didn't know what.

"Sirius, I think we should head back to my office," Dumbledore said. "We can finish our business before you leave."

Sirius nodded and the pair headed off towards Dumbledore's office as the three Gryffindors turned to head towards Gryffindor Tower. However Dumbledore and Sirius failed to hang around long enough to witness Severus catching Hermione and having a very brief conversation with the young witch.

Sirius and Dumbledore walked back to his office in silence and the second they entered the room, Dumbledore asked the portraits on the wall to give them some privacy. Once the previous headmasters had left, he cast a few spells on the frames so that they couldn't return until he was ready for them.

"What's going on?" Sirius demanded. "And don't give me that crap you spouted with the kids. They might believe the rubbish you've just told them, but I don't."

"I don't expect you to believe what I've just said, to be honest it was the best I could come up with on the spur of the moment," Dumbledore admitted.

"Do you have a theory on what happened, or are you just as stumped as I am?" Sirius questioned as the pair sat down to talk properly.

"I have a theory," Dumbledore said quietly. "I do believe that Hermione never meant to harm Harry, I think she was genuinely trying to disarm him to stop the fight."

"Then what happened?"

"We know from the prophecy that Hermione and Draco are connected. While they are not aware of their connection, something inside of them might be. I believe Hermione's magic reacted so strongly to save Draco from more harm," Dumbledore explained.

"But Hermione herself had nothing to do with it?" Sirius checked.

"I don't believe so," Dumbledore answered. "You saw her, she was totally confused and upset. I'm confident it was something she had no control over."

"Do you think it'll happen again?" Sirius questioned. "Hermione's a smart girl, she won't buy this excuse a second time."

"I can't see any reason for it happening again," Dumbledore answered. "This is why I've been keen to limit her contact with Draco, so they couldn't explore the connection they undoubtedly have. This incident was a one-off, there's no reason for her to protect him again. Luckily there's only a few more months of school and then there's no reason for the pair to ever have any contact again. Draco can go and live his life as the Malfoy heir and Hermione can settle down and live her life with Ron."

"And what about James?" Sirius questioned, getting back to the real reason he'd been visiting Dumbledore. "What about my worries regarding his death?"

Sirius had wanted to speak to Dumbledore about the circumstances surrounding his best friend's death. It hadn't slipped his notice that James had died the exact same way as Voldemort and his wife had been killed. He wanted to believe it was just coincide, but he wasn't sure it was, especially with all the Death Eater activity that had been happening lately.

"I admit, I share them," Dumbledore replied gravely. "The fact James died the exact way Voldemort did, hasn't escaped me. However, only a select few people knew the details surrounding Voldemort's death. For the Death Eaters to know what happened, someone had to have talked."

"No." Sirius shook his head, refusing to believe someone would betray them and talk to the dark. "Only four of us were in that room, and only four of us know the truth. Even Lily and Molly don't know the details about what happened with Voldemort and his wife."

"Like you, I refuse to believe someone has talked," Dumbledore said. "That leads me to conclude that the circumstances surrounding James's death are just a coincidence. It's impossible for the Death Eaters to know what happened."

"I still don't like it," Sirius sighed.

"Nor do I," Dumbledore agreed. "But given the recent Death Eater activity, I think it's safe to say James was targeted as a high profile member of the Order. No doubt they think that by using violence they can scare us into revealing what we know about Athena."

"That's not happening," Sirius stated firmly. "If the dark discover the truth, they'll do anything to get Hermione. She's a good kid, she doesn't deserve to be sucked into the dark."

"She won't be," Dumbledore vowed. "The Death Eaters will never find out who Athena truly is. Their search will be completely fruitless."

 _ **G.O.V.**_

After being released from the hospital wing, Draco went directly to the private room down in the dungeons. Back in the hospital wing he'd managed to let Severus know he needed to speak to him urgently, and asked if he could try and get hold of Hermione as well. Even though he and Hermione had already made plans to try and sneak some time together over the weekend, Draco knew the incident in Hogsmeade might have made that possibility harder to organise. Hopefully Severus's interference could at least ensure that he saw Hermione briefly so she was aware of what had happened back in Honeydukes.

Draco was in the room for nearly an hour, and on the verge of giving up and returning to the Slytherin dorms, when the door opened and Hermione and Severus entered the room. Hermione flew over to where Draco was sitting on the sofa and gently embraced him as she checked he was okay.

"I'm perfectly fine," Draco reassured his girlfriend. "Madam Pomfrey only kept us in the hospital wing so she could be sure we were okay. I could probably have left when you all went, it certainly would have been better than being stuck with Potter all afternoon."

"As fascinating as it is to hear about your afternoon with Potter, perhaps we can get on with the point of this meeting," Severus drawled as he conjured himself a chair to sit in rather than joining the two teenagers on the sofa. "I don't want to be missing for too long, you never know who might be looking for me."

"It's about what happened in Honeydukes when Hermione disarmed Potter," Draco said.

"If you're wanting answers, I'm afraid I have none," Severus interrupted. "Dumbledore's explanation was ridiculous, as I'm sure you're both aware, but unfortunately I have no idea what really happened."

"I don't know exactly what happened, but I do know something I never told Dumbledore," Draco said. "When Hermione cast her spell, my wand reacted. I felt it vibrate and it felt as though it cast a spell, but I couldn't reach it and I wasn't thinking of casting any spells."

"Can I see your wand?" Severus asked with a frown.

Draco produced his wand and handed it over to their Potions Professor. Severus checked the wand over and even checked for the last time anything had been cast from the wand. Sure enough the last time the wand had emitted magic was the time of the incident in Honeydukes, although what spell had been cast wasn't clear, it was just registering as some sort of magical energy.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Severus remarked as he checked for past spells for the third time. "There's no spell as such coming from the wand, just a burst of energy."

"Is that what knocked Harry off his feet?" Hermione asked.

"I'm guessing so, but I have no idea what it is or how it even happened," Severus said, handing Draco his wand back. "Has anything like this happened to the pair of you before?"

Hermione and Draco both shook their heads. Neither of them had experienced anything like what had happened in Honeydukes.

"Is it a result of our bond?" Draco questioned.

"I've never heard of a bond causing wands to emit magic on their own," Severus admitted. "I'm more tempted to say it has something to do with the actual wand, but wand lore isn't my speciality. What exactly can you tell me about your wand, Draco?"

"Not much," Draco shrugged. "It's ten inches, made of Hawthorn and has a Golden Eagle feather as the core."

"Golden Eagle?" Severus frowned. "That's an unusual core, most cores are from magical creatures."

"My wand also has a Golden Eagle feather as it's core," Hermione announced, finding it strange that her and Draco should both have the same unusual cores to their wands.

"Interesting," Severus mused. "Anything else?"

"It took a long time to find a suitable wand," Draco supplied. "We were in Ollivander's for ages. Half the wands didn't even work when I picked them up."

"And the other half broke things," Hermione added.

"How do you know that?" Draco asked. Despite talking about most things over the years, wands hadn't been one of them.

"Because the same thing happened to me," Hermione answered. "I was beginning to think I wasn't going to find a wand, when Mr Ollivander went into the back room and returned with my wand. The second I held it, I knew it was meant for me."

"So you both had the same experiences with finding a wand, and you both end up with wands with such unusual cores," Severus remarked thoughtfully. "Definitely interesting."

"But does it give us any answers about what happened today?" Draco questioned.

"I don't know, it's certainly something to look into," Severus replied. "I'll speak to Lucius and let him know what happened. Maybe he can find some answers."

"If our wands are connected, it would be handy to know," Hermione said. "We don't want another incident like today. If something like this happens again, Dumbledore is going to get suspicious."

"I suggest the pair of you are exceptionally careful until we receive some answers," Severus said as he stood up and vanished the chair he'd been using. "I think it's time I left and gave the pair of you some privacy. Although Draco, I wouldn't stay too long if I were you. You don't want someone going up to the hospital wing looking for you, only for them to find out you were discharged ages ago."

"I can't stay long either," Hermione said. "I told Harry and Ron I was popping off to do a bit of work as Head Girl, but they'll be expecting me back soon."

"We don't have to stay too long, just a few minutes," Draco said.

Severus nodded and trusting the pair not to get carried away and stay cooped up together for hours, he left the secret room. Once Severus was gone the couple turned to each other and gently locked lips. They both knew they had other things to discuss, but right now all they were interested in was each other.

After nearly fifteen minutes of making out, which was getting more heated with every passing minute, the pair reluctantly separated. They knew they would have to leave soon as so far they hadn't discussed anything in regards to Hermione's plan for vengeance.

"How are things progressing with Theo and Ginny?" Hermione questioned. "She hasn't mentioned him, but considering I'm Harry's friend and she still reckons she wants to be with him, I'm doubting she's going to confident in me."

"Theo's happy with his progress," Draco filled his girlfriend in. "He's got her attention, and apparently they've indulged in a few kisses. He's confident that within a few weeks, she'll be putty in his hands."

"He does know how important it is that he keeps things secret?" Hermione checked.

"He does," Draco confirmed. "But it doesn't look as though that's going to be a problem. Apparently Ginny has already mentioned not telling anyone they've kissed. It'll be easy for him to convince her to keep their romance under wraps."

"Good. Now how about things outside of school?" Hermione asked. "Have you heard from your father? How are his plans shaping up?"

"Everything seems to be well on track," Draco reassured Hermione. "It won't be long before Potter's supposed mistress is attacked, and from there it'll only be days before Sirius Black is arrested. Shortly after that the twins business will hit problems, and then we've got another accident abroad all lined up."

"Excellent," Hermione grinned. "You can tell Lucius that we can arrange the werewolf attack for the Easter holidays, that way I can then focus my energies on bringing Dumbledore down."

"I though you wanted him dead," Draco said.

"I do," Hermione replied. "But first I want his reputation destroyed. I want everyone to know what he's truly like before he dies. I'm not having him die as a hero, he's going to die with everyone knowing just what he's really like. Everyone will know the lengths he went to just to remain the most powerful wizard in the world. Everyone will know what he did to an innocent baby."

"It sounds like you've got something pretty spectacular in mind," Draco smirked

"I have," Hermione replied, with a matching smirk. "Dumbledore's not going to know what hit him. In a matter of minutes his reputation will be in tatters, as will the reputation of his precious Order. Graduation will be a one to remember this year."


	28. Chapter 28

Narcissa walked past Ollivanders for the third time that morning, glancing inside to see if the shop was empty. Even though it was the middle of the school year, therefore new wand sales were pretty non-existent, Ollivanders did sell other wand related goods and there had been customers in the shop the previous two times Narcissa had checked. This time however the shop seemed deserted so Narcissa chose to enter.

"Mrs Malfoy," Ollivander exclaimed, looking shocked to find the elegant blonde witch entering his shop. "What can I do for you today?"

"I need your expertise," Narcissa replied. Pulling a bag of galleons from her robe, she placed it on the counter. "And I'm willing to pay for your time and knowledge."

"Of course," Ollivander nodded eagerly as he eyed the large bag of galleons in front of him. "How may I be of assistance?"

"I would like a private discussion, if that's at all possible," Narcissa said. "I don't want anyone overhearing my private business."

"Of course you don't," Ollivander said. "It's nearly lunch time, I can close the shop for half an hour or so. We can then head into the back room to talk."

Narcissa nodded her agreement as the wand maker scooted out from behind his counter and put the closed sign on the door. Once the door was locked, he turned back to Narcissa and led the way through to his back room. As he passed the counter he swept the bag of galleons into his pocket so Narcissa couldn't take back her offer of payment.

"Would you like some tea?" Ollivander offered.

"Yes, thank you," Narcissa replied politely.

While Ollivander bustled around making some tea, Narcissa settled herself at the wooden table that dominated the small room. As she watched Ollivander, Narcissa hoped he would be of some help. If she went back home without answers she didn't know what Lucius would do. Since Severus had informed them of the incident with Draco and Hermione a couple of days ago, Lucius had been convinced that the pair's wands would be the key to their power. Rather than let Lucius rush in and threaten Ollivander into talking, Narcissa had offered to speak to the elderly wand maker so they could do things in a civil way. This way they could get the information they needed and an innocent man didn't have to be hurt or killed.

"So Mrs Malfoy, what can I help you with?" Ollivander asked as he handed Narcissa a cup of tea and sat down opposite her.

"I would like to know more about my son's wand," Narcissa said, noticing that Ollivander didn't seem the slightest bit surprised by her request. "There's being an incident."

"What sort of an incident?" Ollivander asked in curiosity.

"A few days ago my son got into an argument with another boy. The other boy tried to hex him, and when a third party intervened things got interesting. A spell was cast by a young witch to disarm the boy threatening my son. As well as disarming him, he was flung across the room and Draco swears his wand reacted at the same time, despite him not having hold of the wand."

"I'm assuming this third party is a young witch called Miss Granger," Ollivander said.

"It was," Narcissa confirmed. "And since you know that, I suspect you've being waiting for this day."

"I have wondered if it would happen," Ollivander admitted. "I knew the day I sold Miss Granger her wand, that one day someone might want answers."

"That day has arrived. Now tell me about my son's wand, and Miss Granger's," Narcissa ordered.

"A long time ago when I first entered training to become a wand maker, I heard several stories revolving around wands and their origins. One of these stories involved a pair of enchanted Golden Eagles, who according to legends only give their feathers to wands belonging to a couple destined to be something special together," Ollivander explained. "The Eagles mate for life and have only given a small handful of feathers out over hundreds of years. The Eagles are said to never die and they are protected and looked after by the descendants of the very first couple who had wands made with their feathers. To be perfectly honest the feathers are so rare and the last rumoured wands were made so long ago, that I thought it was just a legend."

"So how did you come to be in possession of the feathers, if it's just a legend?" Narcissa questioned.

"Roughly eighteen months before your son and Miss Granger bought their wands I was visited by a wizard. He showed me the feathers and told me that very soon there would be two people in need of wands with the core made from the feathers," Ollivander answered. "He sold me the feathers and told me to let my instincts create the wands to encase the feathers. He also told me that I would know when the right person came in needing one of the wands."

"But you didn't," Narcissa pointed out. "Draco tried dozens of wands before you gave him the Golden Eagle one."

"The second he walked in I knew he was destined for one of the Eagle wands," Ollivander admitted. "However, as you know the wand wasn't cheap. I didn't want your husband thinking I was deliberately pushing your son towards an expensive wand because of your family's money. That's why I let Draco try a few wands before I went for the Eagle wand."

Narcissa could well understand Ollivander's reluctance to immediately produce such an expensive wand. It wouldn't be the first time people had tried to steer Narcissa and Lucius towards certain items because they were pricey and they could afford them. Even when they'd been shopping for Draco's school things back when he was starting Hogwarts, the owner of the cauldron shop had tried such a trick. He'd been insistent that the most expensive cauldron in his shop was the best, even though Lucius clearly knew a slightly less pricy model was far better quality and would last Draco longer.

"What about Miss Granger?" Narcissa asked. "Did you instantly know she was destined for the matching wand?"

"I thought she was, but I admit the people she was with threw me off track a bit," Ollivander confessed.

"I'm sure they did," Narcissa remarked softly. "Now what about what happened a few days ago? Can you tell me about that?"

"I couldn't really tell you anything with any certainty without examining the two wands, but I can tell you what I think happened," Ollivander answered. "As I said the two people with these wands are destined to be together, they're destined to be a powerful force in the wizarding world. My guess is that your son's wand reacted to the spell Miss Granger cast as she was protecting him. Whether she was deliberately protecting him, or just trying to end the incident, doesn't matter. The fact is by disarming the person who was threatening your son, she was protecting him. The wand responded to that and emitted its own form of protection. The same thing would have happened had the situations been reversed."

"Is it just a spontaneous thing that they have no control over, or can they control it?" Narcissa questioned.

"The wands will react to one another at certain times, even without a strong connection between the pair. But to control it they have to be totally in sync with one another. However, if they can achieve that they can achieve greatness," Ollivander advised. "If they practise and can learn to harness their magic together, they could be a formidable team. For example an identical spell knowingly cast at exactly the same time will produce magnified results. A simple shield charm for example, could turn into a protective bubble or dome if performed with the right focus."

"So with a genuine connection and practice, they could be unstoppable," Narcissa said.

"Yes," Ollivander nodded. "I've got some books on past owners of such wands and what they supposedly achieved. Of course the last known couple lived centuries ago, but it could prove interesting reading if you wish to borrow them."

"I'd like that," Narcissa replied with a smile.

Getting to his feet, Ollivander shuffled over to a bookcase that lined the far wall and began searching for the book he desired. Finding the book he pulled it off the shelf and dusted it off before he walked back over to Narcissa and handed her the book.

"Thank you very much, Mr Ollivander," Narcissa said as she rose to her feet. "You've been a great help, I'm most grateful."

"Feel free to return to ask for advice at any time," Ollivander replied as he led the way back through to the shop. "I must admit, I'm fascinated to see what these wands can do together."

"So am I," Narcissa murmured.

As Ollivander went to reopen the shop, Narcissa pulled out her wand and pointed it at the old man. Quietly she cast several spells on the wand maker. It wasn't safe to have him wandering about with the knowledge of the conversation they'd just had, the last thing they needed was for Dumbledore to come asking questions and for Ollivander to admit he'd already spoken with Narcissa. However, Narcissa didn't want to wipe the memories completely as she suspected that there would be times they would need to speak again. What she did do was cast a series of spells that would remove the memories from Ollivander's mind on a daily basis and only a visit from her and a mention of Golden Eagles would render the memories viable again.

Once the charms were cast, Narcissa stepped to one side as Ollivander turned back to his counter. When he turned around and spotted the blonde witch standing beside the counter the old man jumped in shock.

"Mrs Malfoy, I didn't see you there," Ollivander said, quickly scooting back behind his counter. "What can I do for you this fine day?"

"I'd like a jar of your finest wand polish, please," Narcissa replied with a smile.

"Of course," Ollivander smiled back at the witch as he retrieved a glass jar of his speciality wand polish from one of the shelves behind him.

"Thank you Mr Ollivander," Narcissa said to the wand maker as she paid for her wand polish. "You've been most helpful."

"Any time Mrs Malfoy," Ollivander replied.

Placing the glass jar carefully in her bag, alongside the book Ollivander had loaned her, Narcissa said her goodbyes and exited the shop. She then finished her shopping before returning to the manor. As expected there was no sign of Lucius, but she hadn't expected to find her husband at home. Not only did he have his business to run, but he was making final preparations for dealing with Sirius Black. Sometime that day the attack was due to happen that her cousin would get the blame for, and Lucius was busy making sure nothing went wrong.

Knowing Lucius would want to talk about what she'd discovered when he came home, Narcissa settled down in the front room with the book Ollivander had loaned her. Any extra information she could gleam would be useful to Draco and Hermione if they truly wanted to learn to master their wands and become even more powerful. Narcissa didn't for one minute doubt that the pair would be able to master their wands, chances were they would start getting results the instant they began to pool their magic together.

By the time Lucius returned home, Narcissa had almost finished the book and she was disappointed to find it hadn't been very useful. There were a couple of handy parts, but nothing too spectacular. It did however mention the names of the other couples who had wands with the Golden Eagles feathers, and Narcissa vowed to learn more about them. Potentially there could be something useful in the Malfoy library, it was certainly vast enough and it contained hundreds of books, some of which were thousands of years old.

"Do we have some answers?" Lucius asked his wife as he sat down beside her.

"We do," Narcissa smiled. "I'm still looking into it, but things are about to get interesting."

"I'm intrigued," Lucius said. "What exactly did you find out?"

Placing the book down on the table beside the sofa, Narcissa proceeded to tell Lucius what she'd discovered from Ollivander. Lucius was extremely interested in what his wife had discovered, and he was pleased when she informed him that she'd ensured that they could still consult with Ollivander without anyone finding out what they were doing.

"Draco and Athena are going to love this," Lucius chuckled. "This is phenomenal."

"No wonder Dumbledore was so scared," Narcissa said. "Just think what would have happened if he hadn't interfered and killed Tom and Adelaide. Athena and Draco would have grown up together, and their bond would have been so much stronger. By now they would have mastered their wands."

"Don't underestimate them, Cissa," Lucius told his wife. "Their bond is still very strong, and I don't think it will take them long to master the basics with their wands. Give them time and they'll become unstoppable."

"When are we going to tell them about the wands?" Narcissa asked.

"I'll speak to Severus and see if he can arrange some sort of meeting where we can talk to them face to face and explain what we know," Lucius said. "But it could be a few days before I'm really free. Tonight is the night of the attack, and I need to be sure everything is going to run smoothly in the coming days. We don't want Black wriggling off the hook."

"I'm sure you won't let that happen," Narcissa said to her husband as they stood up. "Now let's have some dinner, before I head to the library. I want as much information as I can get before we talk to Draco and Athena."

After having dinner together the couple went their separate ways for a few hours. Lucius headed into his study, where he spoke to Severus via the floo network before overseeing the night's events. Narcissa meanwhile scoured the library, trying to find information about wand lore and the potential things Draco and Hermione could do with their wands. As it turned out she found several useful books and she was hopeful by the time they told the young couple what was happening she would have lots of extra information for them.


	29. Chapter 29

Hermione was still thinking about the incident in Hogsmeade days after it had happened. Until they got some answers she knew she would continue to worry in case it happened again and Dumbledore paid more attention a second time. Luckily for Hermione it was only Tuesday morning when she discovered answers were on their way.

"Miss Granger, I'd like you to stay behind," Severus called at the end of Potions, which happened to fall just before break time. "I need to discuss your latest homework assignment."

Hermione knew the homework was just an excuse to talk to her, so she wasn't worried as she remained in her seat. Luckily since Harry and Ron didn't take Potions, she didn't have to deal with them asking questions and hovering around waiting for her to finish up with the Potions Professor.

Severus waited until everyone had left before silencing the classroom door and approaching Hermione's desk.

"Do you have news?" Hermione asked.

"I do," Severus said. "I spoke to Lucius last night and he told me that Narcissa went to visit Ollivander yesterday. She's got answers about your wands, and how you and Draco can use the connection to your advantage. Lucius said he would be in touch later in the week and I can arrange for Lucius and Narcissa to pay a visit to my office so they can talk to you and Draco."

"Why didn't you arrange the visit right away?" Hermione questioned, disappointed that it looked as though she would have to wait for answers even longer.

"Lucius mentioned the attack was last night, and he's going to be busy making sure Sirius is arrested," Severus explained. "By the end of the week, he should have time to speak to you. I'm sure you could contact him and ask to speak to him sooner, but I'm sure you'd prefer it if he made sure everything ran smoothly regarding Sirius."

"I would," Hermione admitted. "I guess I can wait until the end of the week. I just wanted answers."

"I know you did, and it sounds as though Narcissa has answers for you when you talk," Severus replied. "It also sounded as though she was still looking into things, so by the end of the week she might be able to tell you a lot more than she can right now."

"That sounds promising," Hermione said with a smile.

"Lucius didn't go into details, but he gave me the impression you would be happy with what Narcissa has discovered," Severus told the young witch.

"It sounds intriguing," Hermione remarked as she got to her feet and grabbed her bag. "And hopefully by the end of the week, we'll have news about Sirius."

"I'm guessing that news will be filtering through any day now," Severus said. "If everything went according to plan with the attack yesterday evening then Sirius will be in the frame for it sometime this week."

"That'll be something to look forward to," Hermione laughed, before she said goodbye to the Potions Master and exited his room to enjoy the remainder of her break.

Directly after break, Hermione had Defence Against the Dark Arts, meaning she met up with Harry and Ron on her way to the classroom. Since the pair hadn't been down in the dungeons they'd had no idea she'd even spoken to Severus so the topic of what the Potions Master had wanted with her never came up. Instead Harry asked her how her morning lessons had been, while Ron threw his arm around her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the cheek. As usual Hermione had to fight her instincts to push Ron off her, with each passing day she was finding it harder to pretend to be a loving girlfriend to the ginger boy. Luckily her need for vengeance overrode her desire to push Ron away and tell him she belonged with someone else.

"Why's everyone standing around outside the classroom?" Harry asked Neville as they entered the Defence corridor and found a group of Gryffindors and Slytherins awaiting entry to the classroom.

"Professor Lupin isn't here and the door's locked," Neville shrugged.

"Why would the door be locked?" Harry mused. "Let me see."

Pushing through the crowds, Harry made his way to the door and pulled on the handle. However as Neville had already said the door was locked and when Harry peered through the glass portion at the top of the door the classroom looked empty. Deciding on a different tactic, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door.

"Alohamora," he cried, but when he tried to open the door it still wouldn't budge.

"Now why didn't we think of that?" Draco drawled from where he was leaning against the opposite wall. "All we needed was the genius of Potter to work out the door couldn't be opened by magic."

"Shut it," Harry snarled at the blond. He was still smarting from their encounter over the weekend and he would love another shot at the annoying Slytherin.

"Stop it the pair of you," Hermione ordered as she moved forward through the crowds.

"What's this got to do with you?" Pansy sneered at the brunette witch.

"I'm the Head Girl, and if people don't stop arguing I'll be docking points," Hermione replied, shooting Pansy such a frosty glare that the raven haired girl hurriedly backed off. "Now since Professor Lupin isn't here, I suggest we wait quietly while someone goes and tried to find out what's happening."

"I'll go," Neville offered quickly, wanting to be well out of the way if a fight broke out.

"Thank you Neville," Hermione smiled at her friend. "Just try and find any Professor and tell them we're locked out of the class and there's no sign of Professor Lupin."

"Bossy cow," Theo muttered to his fellow Slytherins as Hermione issued the orders and Neville rushed off to obey them.

Hearing Theo's words, Hermione glared at the Slytherin before turning away and moving back to where Harry had re-joined Ron near the back of the group. Despite wishing she could be over with Draco, Hermione let Ron wrap his arm back around her as she leaned against him.

The students had to wait almost five minutes before Neville suddenly reappeared with McGonagall at his side. Hermione was pleased to see the head of Gryffindor as people were beginning to get restless and a few seconds earlier she'd heard Blaise suggest they just leave and not bother waiting for a Professor to show up. Even with her power as Head Girl, Hermione wasn't sure how she would have handled that if the Slytherins had decide to leave. Luckily that now wasn't an issue as McGonagall was here and would take charge.

"I want you all to head into the Great Hall," McGonagall announced. "There should have been a note on the door, telling you all this but it appears its gone walkabouts," she added, looking accusingly at the Slytherins.

"We never touched any note," Theo protested, unimpressed to be accused merely because they were Slytherins.

"I told you we should have just left," Blaise muttered as McGonagall began ushering people out of the corridor.

"Next time," Draco soothed his friend as they headed towards the Great Hall.

"Professor McGonagall, where's Professor Lupin?" Harry asked, remaining behind as people began to move.

"He and Professor Dumbledore were called away on urgent business," McGonagall replied. "Now come along and go to the Great Hall."

Reluctantly Harry turned and followed the rest of the class down to the Great Hall. Once everyone was seated, McGonagall handed everyone some work and told them to complete it quietly. She then settled down at the staff table to do some marking while the seventh years did their work.

"What's going on?" Ron whispered to Harry. "Where's Lupin?"

"McGonagall just said he and Dumbledore had been called away on urgent business," Harry told his friends. "We'll just have to wait until he comes back to see what's going on."

As the trio settled down to work, Hermione had to wonder if Lupin and Dumbledore's absence had anything to do with Sirius. If the attack had happened the previous night it was feasible that the Aurors were already onto Sirius and treating him as a suspect. If that happened it would make sense that he would send word to his friend and to Dumbledore to see if they could help.

Hermione actually spent the rest of the afternoon wondering about Lupin's urgent business, but didn't get any answers until dinner time that evening. When she arrived for dinner with Harry and Ron the trio instantly spotted that Dumbledore was back, sitting at the Professor's table talking solemnly to McGonagall. However there was no sign of Professor Lupin in the Great Hall, he didn't appear until the trio left the Great Hall and were heading towards the stairs.

"Harry," Lupin called, suddenly emerging from the shadows. "Can I have a word?"

"Can Ron and Hermione come along?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Lupin nodded. "Let's go to my classroom."

The three teenagers exchanged curious looks as they followed the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor to his classroom. It was clear to all of them that something serious was going on, Hermione just hoped it would be good news for her plan for vengeance. When they entered the room, Lupin silenced the room and gestured for everyone to take a seat. He then took a seat himself and ran a weary hand through his hair.

"What's wrong?" Harry questioned. "Is my Mum okay?"

"Lily's fine," Lupin reassured Harry. "But there has been an incident. Yesterday evening the witch who is claiming to have had an affair with James was brutally attacked and left for dead. It was just by chance that a friend in the same building called round and found her in time to save her life."

"I would like to say I'm sorry, but I'm not," Harry replied frostily. "That woman is a liar who tried to destroy my father's good name. I can't be upset that her evil ways have caught up with her."

"You may not be bothered about her, but I'm sure it'll bother you to know that the Aurors have arrested a suspect," Lupin said. Pausing he took a deep breath before telling Harry the worst bit. "Harry, they've arrested Sirius."

"No, they can't have." Harry shook his head disbelievingly.

"I'm afraid they have," Lupin replied with a sigh. "Lily contacted Dumbledore this morning to let him know the Aurors turned up and took Sirius into the Ministry for questioning. We've been there all day and they formally arrested him this afternoon so they have more time to interview him."

"But surely they'll have to let him go when they work out he didn't do it," Ron said.

"I'm not sure it's going to be that simple," Lupin admitted. "Things aren't looking good for Sirius."

"You can't believe he would do this." Harry looked at Lupin in horror, aghast that he could even contemplate his best friend could do such a thing. "Sirius would never hurt a woman, even if she is a lying cow."

"I don't for one minute believe Sirius has done this, but unfortunately the evidence is beginning to stack up against him," Lupin said.

"What evidence do they have?" Hermione asked.

"The witch, whose name is Naomi by the way, was seen in her local bar having a drink with a man who matches Sirius's description. According to eyewitnesses the conversation took a nasty turn and they were arguing. Naomi then left the bar and several people have testified that the man she was with followed her, swearing that she wasn't going to get away with it," Lupin explained.

"Was it Sirius with her?" Ron asked.

"Sirius is saying it wasn't him," Lupin replied. "But he has been looking for her, and on Sunday he told me he'd tracked her down. Sirius told me that he'd found out where her local bar was and he was planning on paying her a visit there."

"That doesn't mean he went last night," Harry pointed out.

"And why was this Naomi even in a bar?" Ron asked. "Isn't she claiming to be pregnant? I thought pregnant women didn't drink."

"She was drinking soft drinks the entire night according to the bar staff, and she hasn't ordered an alcoholic drink off them for months," Lupin answered.

"So, she's been planning to tell these lies for a while," Harry shrugged. "That's not important right now, what's important is Sirius. They can't arrest him because this woman had a drink with a man who matched his description."

"A few of Naomi's neighbours also reported seeing a man matching Sirius's description entering the building a few minutes after her," Lupin told the trio. "Then it doesn't help that Sirius's alibi has fallen through. He told the Aurors he was with a witch he met a few weeks ago, but she's denying seeing him last night. In fact she's got a dozen witnesses that can swear she never left her flat last night and that Sirius most certainly wasn't there."

"He's been set up," Harry gasped, understanding suddenly dawning on him. "Someone has done this deliberately, and set Sirius up to take the fall."

"That's what we're thinking, but proving it is another matter entirely," Lupin sighed. "For the minute it looks as though Sirius has done this. And if she dies, it's going to be so much worse for him. At the minute he's looking at being charged with attempted murder, and possibly manslaughter, but if she dies, he'll be charged with two murders."

"Why two murders?" Ron frowned.

"Naomi lost the baby she was carrying," Lupin said. "I spoke to Kingsley, and while he isn't on the case, he said that it's possible that Sirius could be charged with manslaughter since his supposed actions caused her to lose the baby."

"I thought the whole pregnancy thing was just a lie," Ron said quietly.

"The bit about James being the father was a clear lie, but obviously she was indeed pregnant," Lupin said.

"Is there any chance she'll wake up?" Hermione asked.

"It's too soon to tell at the minute, the last thing I heard was that it was touch and go," Lupin said. "I promise I'll keep you up to date with what's happening, but I wanted to tell you before you read about it in the papers. No doubt it'll be all over the place tomorrow."

"Great," Harry muttered. "This will be another thing for Malfoy and his cronies to use to wind me up."

"You can't let them get to you, Harry," Lupin warned. "The last thing Lily needs is you getting into trouble. She's still grieving for your father, and now Sirius has been torn away from her. Don't give her more cause for concern."

"I won't," Harry promised. "I promise I'll rise above it and ignore them."

Lupin nodded and gave Harry a smile, before letting the trio head back to Gryffindor Tower. The three teenagers headed up to Gryffindor Tower in silence and the second they entered the common room, Harry led them straight up to the boy's dorms. Locking and silencing the room, the three Gryffindors sat down and began to discuss what was happening with Sirius. They all agreed he was being set up and would never do such a thing, and much to Hermione's amusement Harry vowed to find the person really responsible and make them pay. Hermione might have been worried if Harry had an actual plan or any idea how he would achieve his aims, but all he could do was rant and rave. That was the thing about Harry, he was all talk and no action, unlike Hermione herself who had immediately formed a solid plan of attack when she discovered the truth about her past. And that was why she would achieve her vengeance, while Harry would only dream about what he would like to do.


	30. Chapter 30

As expected the news about the attack broke in the papers the following day. The Daily Prophet took great glee in dragging up what had happened at James's funeral with the victim, meaning the gossip about Harry's father was back almost as strong as it had been when school started a couple of weeks ago. The paper also mentioned an arrest had been made, although they didn't go so far as to name names but Harry, Ron and Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before Sirius was named, especially if he was officially charged with any crimes.

Despite the papers not naming who had been arrested by lunchtime it was common knowledge that it was Sirius who was being questioned by the Aurors. No-one could say for definite where the rumours had started since everyone claimed to have heard it from someone else, but the trio suspected it had come from the Slytherins, specifically Draco. Even Hermione wasn't totally sure her boyfriend was behind the rumours, but either way she was happy with the result.

The only disappointing thing was that Harry was keeping his promise to Lupin and remaining calm. Hermione knew for a fact that Draco and his friends were being particularly vocal about Sirius, and James for that matter, but Harry was doing his best to ignore them. Ron had confided in her that Harry was taking his anger out on his things in the privacy of his own dorm room, but he wasn't being dragged into any altercation in public. Despite being slightly disappointed that Harry hadn't landed himself in yet more trouble, Hermione had to admit Harry had impressed her. She'd never for one minute thought he could control his anger as well as he was doing, and she had to wonder if she'd underestimated him in other ways as well.

After dinner at the end of the week, Lupin pulled the trio aside again to fill them in on what was happening. Unfortunately for Harry he had no good news as he informed them that Sirius would be held at the Ministry over the weekend and unless anything major happened he would be officially charged with attempted murder on Monday morning.

"I can't believe this," Harry muttered, sinking into a seat in Lupin's classroom. "First I've lost my Dad, and now I'm losing Sirius."

"I'm sorry Harry," Lupin said gently. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Actually there might be," Harry said, looking up hopefully at his Professor. "Sirius promised to tell me everything he knew about Athena. Could you do it instead?"

"Why do you want to know about Athena?" Lupin frowned, not seeing the connection between Voldemort's daughter and what was happening with Sirius.

"Because she's the reason for all this," Harry stated. "She's the reason the Death Eaters are attacking again. And because they're back in business they've killed my Dad, and likely set up Sirius to be sent to Azkaban."

"Athena may be the reason behind the attacks, but she's not responsible for them," Lupin pointed out to the teenager. "The Death Eaters are acting of their own accord, she has nothing to do with them."

"How are you so sure?" Ron questioned. "For all you know she could be running the entire operation."

"I trust Dumbledore," Lupin stated simply. "He's reassured us that Athena isn't in contact with the dark, and I believe him. His word is good enough for me."

"That's all you know, isn't it?" Harry looked at Lupin thoughtfully. "You just know what Dumbledore has told you. You have no idea where she is, do you?"

"No, I don't," Lupin admitted. "To be honest until these attacks started up again I thought Athena was dead, we all did. Dumbledore has only just admitted the truth to the Order, but he reassures us that Athena has nothing to do with the dark."

"How can he be so sure?" Harry asked. "The only way he can know that for certain is if he's in regular contact with her."

"Maybe he is," Ron suggested. "We can't know where he is twenty four hours a day, I'm sure he could leave the school for an hour or two here and there to go and see Athena."

"I'm afraid, I can't help you there," Lupin said with a shrug. "You could try talking to Dumbledore, but my guess is he won't tell you anything. I promise you, Athena herself doesn't matter here. It's the Death Eaters we need to concentrate on, not an innocent girl who has no idea who her father was."

Harry nodded, seemingly in agreement as he stood up. Thanking Lupin for keeping him up to date regarding Sirius, Harry led the way from the classroom.

"You don't agree with Lupin, do you?" Hermione asked, once they were clear of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"No I don't," Harry admitted. "I trust Dumbledore, but I don't trust this Athena. Word of her survival has leaked out somehow, and it won't have come from Dumbledore."

"You think she discovered the truth and rallied the Death Eaters?" Ron questioned, his eyes widening in awe of Harry's logic.

"It's a possibility we have to consider," Harry replied. "Until I know more about her and what her situation is, I refuse to believe Athena Riddle is anything more than the evil witch she was born to be. Dumbledore might have saved her life and shielded her from who she truly is, but evil like that doesn't just lie dormant. She's the spawn of the devil, and in my opinion she's bad to the bone."

"I agree." Ron nodded heartily to Harry's assessment of a witch they'd never met. "But what do we do about it? Without Sirius's information, we're at a dead end."

"I haven't decided yet," Harry admitted sheepishly.

"Maybe you should decide another time," Hermione suggested, checking her watch. "The pair of you have detention with McGonagall in five minutes."

"Bugger, I'd forgotten all about that," Harry swore. The detention was down to the incident in Hogsmeade the previous weekend, and Harry just knew that as well as detention McGonagall would have a lecture for him and Ron about fighting.

"You best get going unless you want to be late," Hermione told the duo.

"No way are we being late," Harry declared. "That'll just mean more detention."

"See you back at Gryffindor Tower," Ron called to Hermione as he and Harry waved goodbye and took off at top speed to reach their detention on time.

Hermione waited until Harry and Ron were well and truly out of sight before turning and heading down to the dungeons. Since Harry and Ron were busy with detentions, Severus had organised for Lucius and Narcissa to visit. Severus had reassured her that Dumbledore was far too busy with Sirius and the Order to think about where Hermione was, but even so he'd arranged it to look like she was helping him with work for the younger students as an extra credit assignment. Draco meanwhile was supposed to be in detention with Severus, meaning his presence from the Slytherin common room wouldn't be questioned.

By the time Hermione reached Severus's office everyone was sitting waiting for her. Apologising for being slightly late, Hermione took a seat next to Draco. Lucius immediately brushed Hermione's apology off, claiming he and Narcissa had just arrived.

"I hate to rush things, but we are limited on time," Severus said. "Dumbledore may be busy, but I don't want to press our luck."

"Of course." Narcissa nodded. "We'll dive straight in, shall we?"

"Before we discuss the wands, can I ask how other things are going?" Hermione interrupted, before Narcissa revealed what had happened when she'd spoken to Ollivander. "Is everything on track?"

"Everything is going perfectly," Lucius smirked. "Sometime over the weekend Naomi will be waking up and identifying Sirius as her attacker. Between the evidence we've created and her statement, he'll be sent directly to Azkaban. As for the Weasleys, the investor will be pulling out of the twins shop in the aftermath of Sirius's sentence. I'll make sure the paper's mention he's an investor in the business, giving my guy a perfect reason to withdraw his support. As for the accident in Romania, Bella and Rodolphus are working on that as we speak. That will happen sometime before Easter, but I'm not entirely sure when. And of course the Death Eater raids will be continuing, we want the Order to know we haven't forgotten about Athena."

"Excellent," Hermione grinned. "Thank you Lucius. Sorry for the interruption Narcissa, but now we can get back to the wands."

"It's perfectly understandable, you need to know everything is running smoothly," Narcissa replied. "Now onto the wands. It may be best if I tell you everything I know, before you ask questions."

Hermione and Draco nodded in agreement as Narcissa launched into an explanation about their wands and their connection. Narcissa repeated everything Ollivander had told her, and explained about the potential they had as best she could. She also mentioned that she had some books back at the manor that may be of use, but she was still working on them.

"So with practice, we could become incredibly powerful," Draco stated, summing up what his mother had just told them.

"Yes," Narcissa agreed. "From everything I've read it will take time for you to harness that much power, but I'd like to bet that before the end of the year you could be making giant leaps in the right direction."

"I have a question," Hermione said. "If our wands react if we say spells at the same time, why have they never reacted in class? We've never created this amplified version of our spells before?"

"I thought about that, but to create an amplified version of a spell, you need to be aware that you're doing it," Narcissa answered. "Also it has to be cast at exactly the same time, even the tiniest delay from one of you ruins the effect."

"There's no way we've cast spells at exactly the same time," Draco said. "Even in a classroom where everyone is casting a spell, we won't be synchronised."

"Synchronising your magic will be very hard to master," Narcissa warned. "As I said, even a tiny difference can affect the spell you're trying to cast. It will take a lot of work and understanding to be able to fully master your potential."

"Does the connection help our magic even without the amplified effect?" Hermione asked. She was confident she and Draco could sync their magic, but it might take some practice and she wasn't sure how much practice they would get before the end of the year.

"Yes," Narcissa nodded. "That's why you're both so quick at mastering new spells and magic. Even without casting spells together, you're both using the same sort of magic in close proximity. That helps with the speed of which you learn things."

"So we've been helping each other all along without knowing it," Draco checked.

"I think so," Narcissa replied. "At least that's the way I understand what I've learnt about your wands."

"Will we be able to look at these books ourselves?" Draco questioned. He trusted that his mother was telling them everything she knew, he just preferred to read things for himself.

"Of course," Lucius promised. "They're in the library at home. The pair of you can study them over Easter."

"But until then I'm sure you can try to synchronise your magic a bit," Narcissa suggested. "I would have brought some of the books with me, but I don't know how safe they'll be here."

"You were right not to bring them," Hermione reassured the older witch. "I don't want Dumbledore working out what really happened last weekend. He can't find out about our wands being a set. Who knows what he would do to try and sever their connection. We can hopefully find out more over Easter but until then I'm sure Draco and I can try and practice in private."

"You will have to be extra careful in lessons," Lucius warned. "From what we read if you do manage to successfully align your magic, it'll then become second nature. You don't want to give any indicators about your connection."

"Don't worry Lucius, we're used to being careful," Hermione smiled. "We've had years of practice."

Lucius and Narcissa both chuckled in amusement at Hermione's statement as they stood up to leave. Narcissa gave both Draco and Hermione a hug and said goodbye to Severus while Lucius promised that he would ensure everything ran smoothly with Hermione's plan for vengeance. Hermione also promised that over Easter she would fill everyone in on her plans for Dumbledore.

"So do you want to go to our room and practice our magic?" Draco asked his girlfriend once his parents had left and the couple had exited Severus's office.

"I would love to, but I have to be getting back to Gryffindor Tower," Hermione sighed. "Harry is starting to obsess over Athena, and I need to be aware of what he's thinking. I don't want him springing any surprises on me."

"Maybe we could meet up tomorrow instead," Draco suggested.

"I could arrange that," Hermione said. "I can tell Harry and Ron I'm doing more extra credit work with Severus. Besides, I think they might be a quidditch practise as well. If there is, I'll send you a message and we can spend all afternoon together as well."

Glancing around to ensure there was no-one around, Hermione gave Draco a quick kiss before she turned and headed off towards Gryffindor Tower. Spending the afternoon with Draco was certainly something to look forward to, and it would be a welcome break from having Ron all over her. Hermione was fairly sure that Ginny had mentioned their conversation to Ron, however she was now beginning to think she'd made a mistake in trying to get Ron to propose to her. When she'd first started the plan her ideas for dealing with Dumbledore had just been in the early stages, but now she had started to plan her final moves she couldn't risk publically humiliating Ron, not if she wanted everything to go to plan at graduation. Luckily she knew Ron would mull over such a big decision for weeks, possibly even months, so she was fairly confident that she wouldn't have to deal with any sort of proposal this side of Easter. Hopefully before then she could come up with a solution to the problem she'd unwittingly caused.


	31. Chapter 31

On Sunday evening Lupin delivered the news to Harry that Sirius had been officially charged with attempted murder and would be heading to Azkaban. Harry questioned if there would be a trial, but according to Lupin it wouldn't be worth it. All the evidence pointed in Sirius's direction, including a very damning statement from the victim that confirmed Sirius as her attacker. Any defence Sirius could have mounted all rested on his alibi, and since that had fallen through a trial would be a waste of time. All a trial would do was delay the inevitable, which was Sirius ending up in Azkaban for years.

Hermione had half expected the news to fire Harry up and make him even more determined to find out who was behind the situation with Sirius, but instead the news seemed to make him close in on himself. Hermione suspected that Sirius's arrest combined with James's death was starting to take a toll on Harry. While Harry had grieved for his father, he'd also tried to carry on as normal and she thought everything had just gotten too much for him at the minute. No doubt when he worked through his grief and accepted what had happened to Sirius he would be back and raring to find out what he could about Athena.

Harry continued to keep to himself even when the news of Sirius's sentence was splashed all over the paper. By the end of the week the entire school had realised that Harry wasn't going to rise to any taunt they threw at him regarding Sirius, so no-one mentioned his godfather to him. Even the Slytherins didn't bother him as they weren't getting any reaction and there was no fun to be had if he was just ignoring them.

Over breakfast on Saturday morning, Harry was still keeping to himself, leaving Hermione to deal with Ron. Hermione had been left to deal with Ron more often than she would have liked this past week, but at least now Dumbledore wasn't watching her like a hawk so a few nights she'd managed to escape from her supposed boyfriend. However the prospect of spending a whole weekend with Ron while Harry continued to sulk wasn't very appealing to the brunette witch.

"Oh look, here's Errol," Ginny declared as the owls swept into the Great Hall to deliver the morning post.

As usual Errol made a complete hash of landing on the table, and he ended up landing headfirst in Ginny's half empty cereal bowl. Muttering about how useless the owl was, Ron untied the letter from Errol's foot and shooed the owl away. Even though the letter was addressed to both Ron and Ginny, Ron opened it up and began to read it.

"Does Mum have anything interesting to say?" Ginny asked, discarding her half eaten cereal and grabbing some toast instead.

"Bill's home and settled in St Mungo's," Ron told his sister. "He's still in the coma, but he's stable and the healers are confident he'll wake up eventually."

"That's good." Hermione smiled supportively at the two redheads.

"What about Percy?" Ginny asked. "Has he had any luck finding a job?"

"No." Ron shook his head as he continued to read the letter from home.

"Anything else happening?" Ginny checked as her attention shifted across the hall.

Subtly Hermione followed Ginny's eye line and smiled to herself as she saw Theo exiting the Great Hall. However before he left he caught Ginny's eye and gave her a subtle nod. Hermione was hoping the interaction meant things were progressing nicely between the pair. And if that was the case she would have to speak to Draco and make sure he knew when the time was right to unleash Blaise into the fun.

"Nothing else is happening," Ron told his sister as he hastily folded the letter back up and stuffed it in the envelope. He then put the envelope in his bag without even offering to let Ginny have a look.

While Ginny may not have noticed Ron's suspicious behaviour regarding the letter, Hermione had. Obviously there was something in the letter that Ron didn't want to tell Ginny, or at least something he didn't want to tell her in public.

"Well I'm off," Ginny announced. Now she knew everything was okay at home she could go off and enjoy her weekend. "See you later."

"I wonder where she's going in such a hurry," Ron muttered, narrowing his eyes at Ginny's retreating back.

"Leave her alone Ron, she's probably going to meet up with some friends," Hermione said.

"I suppose." Ron nodded as he turned away from watching his retreating sister and refocused on his girlfriend and best friend. "What are we going to do now? We've got the whole weekend ahead of us, and no plans."

"I'm going for a walk," Harry replied quietly. "I just need some time alone, I'll see you later."

"We'll be here when you're ready to talk," Hermione smiled at Harry as he got up to leave.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it," Harry smiled back at the duo before exiting the Hall.

"It looks like there's just you and me now," Ron grinned at Hermione.

"Until this afternoon," Hermione said as the pair got up to leave the Great Hall. "I've promised to go down to the dungeons to do more work for Professor Snape."

"Again," Ron groaned in disappointment. "You were down there all last weekend as well."

"It's all extra credit, and all this hands on experience with Potions in invaluable," Hermione explained. "It means if I want to get into a career involving Potions, I'll have a bit of a head start."

"Is that something you would be interested in?" Ron asked, suddenly realising he had no idea what sort of career Hermione was thinking about undertaking once they left school.

"I do like potions, so I guess it's an option," Hermione replied. "What about you? Have you thought about what you're going to do?"

Ron nodded and told Hermione about his desire to play Quidditch professionally. He fully admitted that it was a long shot, but he had a few back up ideas all of which also related to Quidditch. The pair continued to talk as they headed up to Gryffindor Tower and once they were in the comfort of the common room Ron asked if he could speak to Hermione in private. Hoping Ron wasn't going to surprise her and propose this early Hermione reluctantly followed him up to the boy's dorms.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked as Ron collapsed onto his bed with a big sigh.

"No," Ron admitted. "I lied to Ginny when I said there was nothing else going on at home. There is something, and it could end up being pretty major."

Taking the letter from Molly out of his pocket, Ron handed it to Hermione. Sitting down next to Ron, Hermione opened the letter and proceeded to read it. The beginning of the letter was all about Bill, before Molly briefly mentioned Percy, but towards the end it took an interesting turn. Molly had written about the investor pulling out of Fred and George's shop following Sirius being sent to Azkaban, and while she didn't go into too much detail it was very clear what the repercussions of such an act could be. Molly had tried to gloss over it and told Ron and Ginny not to worry, but she wasn't exactly convincing.

"That could be bad," Hermione remarked, handing the letter back to Ron.

"We could lose the house," Ron whispered. "Without that backer and his money, who knows what sort of trouble Fred and George will find themselves in. And Sirius isn't exactly in a position to help, he'll need his money to fund any sort of appeal to get out of Azkaban. That leaves Mum and Dad as the main investors, and they'll not be able to cover what the twins will lose with this bloke pulling out."

"You need to tell Ginny," Hermione said, unsure of why Ron hadn't just told her the truth down at breakfast.

"I wasn't putting off telling Ginny, I didn't want Harry to hear," Ron admitted. "Harry's going through so much already, he doesn't need to know that the twins lost their investor because of this mess with Sirius."

"He is trying to cope with a lot at the minute," Hermione said. She knew Harry would eventually find out about what was happening with the twins, but she could understand Ron not wanting to heap more misery on him.

"Do you think he is coping?" Ron asked, voicing the doubt that had been playing in his mind all week. "Is he not just shutting himself away and refusing to deal with things?"

"I have no idea," Hermione sighed. "I think he's trying to cope by coming to terms with things on his own, but I'm not sure. I guess we're not going to find out until he talks to us, and I don't want to push him into speaking. People deal with grief in different ways and I say we let Harry handle things his own way for the time being. If he's still acting like this in a few weeks we can talk to someone, but for now I say we leave him."

Ron nodded in agreement and wanting to lighten the mood he suggested they headed outside for a while. Hermione agreed and after grabbing her jacket the pair left Gryffindor Tower to spend the morning exploring the grounds of the school.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Hermione growled in frustration as yet again her and Draco failed to fully synchronise their magic. The pair had been practising in their secret room since the previous weekend and so far they weren't getting very far. When they cast spells together they could both feel the extra power behind them, but they hadn't been able to cast one perfectly together in order to get these extra powers Narcissa had told them about.

"What's the point in having this connection if it doesn't work?" Hermione grumbled as he threw herself onto the sofa.

"We just need practice," Draco told his girlfriend. Normally he was the impatient one, but for some reason their failure to fully coordinate their magic was getting to Hermione.

"We have been practising," Hermione argued. "It still doesn't work."

"We've been practising for a week, give it time," Draco replied soothingly. "You can't expect instant results. Mother made it clear that even with wands that formed a pair that it needed work and effort to maximise the potential we have."

"I know, I just wished things were progressing quicker," Hermione admitted with a sigh. "I would much rather have mastered some basics before the big showdown with Dumbledore."

"That's months away, we'll have made progress before then," Draco said confidently. "And speaking of progress, how are things coming along with Weasley?"

"We're going to have to make some changes there. Our initial plan won't work," Hermione replied ruefully.

"I thought you'd set all the groundwork perfectly," Draco frowned. "Last time we discussed it you were confident he would propose before the end of the year."

"Unfortunately, I still think there's a strong chance he'll propose. However, if he does I'm going to have to say yes. I can't turn him down in the brutal fashion we initially hoped for."

"Why the hell would you say yes to Weasley?" Draco growled, his jealousy bubbling to the surface at the thought of Hermione getting engaged to Weasley. "The whole idea was to get him to humiliate himself and to break his heart."

"Firstly, I'm not sure if we ever could have even manipulated him into proposing in public," Hermione confessed. Even when they'd initially discussed the plan to get Ron to propose to her the public proposal was the only thing she'd been unsure of as she couldn't imagine Ron doing something so private and potentially nerve wracking in public.

"Okay, I admit that would have taken a lot of planning," Draco conceded. "But why do you have to say yes to him? I thought you were going to break his heart."

"I am," Hermione confirmed. "But I now know exactly how I'm going to deal with Dumbledore, and for it to work as I want I can't have brutally broken Ron's heart before that."

"Is this where you tell me how you're dealing with Dumbledore?" Draco questioned. For weeks Hermione had been dropping hints about her final plans and he was desperate to know more.

Hermione smiled at her boyfriend's eagerness, before filling him in on her entire plan. Even though she'd been working on the plan all year it had only recently took on a firm direction and it was good to talk it through with Draco. Hearing the plan out loud, Hermione could spot any potential flaws and fix them before graduation.

"You're right, for that to work you can't have done anything to raise people's suspicions and unfortunately rejecting Weasley will look suspicious," Draco said, once Hermione had told him her entire plan.

"Although even if he does propose and I've accepted, this will be the perfect time to call it off," Hermione said. "I can say I can't marry him after everything that has happened. Plus, I don't think he'll be too happy to know he almost married the daughter of Lord Voldemort. Ron and Harry have made their feelings about me pretty clear, so I don't think he'll take it well when he discovers the truth."

"Athena Riddle, you are an evil mastermind," Draco laughed, loving his girlfriend's plans for vengeance.

Hermione smiled and slid closer to Draco. "Call me that again."

"What an evil mastermind?" Draco teased, knowing full well she wanted him to call her Athena. Since the afternoon over Christmas break he'd been calling her Athena when they were in bed together and she definitely responded to the name.

"Draco, stop teasing," Hermione pouted at her boyfriend.

"I'm not teasing, Athena," Draco replied, smirking when Hermione's eyes lit up in pleasure when he used her proper name.

"If you're not teasing then I think it's time you kissed me," Hermione ordered.

"Anything you want," Draco grinned as he connected their lips in a heated kiss.

With Draco continuing to use Hermione's given name the couple abandoned practising synchronising their magic for the afternoon in exchange for other more pleasurable activities. They could resume their practise another day, but for now they were quite happy to give into their hormones and have a bit of fun.


	32. Chapter 32

After events with Sirius, life at Hogwarts started to calm down. Harry slowly withdrew from himself and began spending time with Hermione and Ron again. He'd still never mentioned Athena or his plans regarding her, but at least he was talking to his friends again and interacting with people. He even took the news about the twin's loss of investor a lot better than Ron had anticipated, and while he was clearly disappointed for the twins and worried for the Weasley family in general he didn't seem to take it too badly that the events with Sirius had caused the entire thing to happen.

As for Hermione's plans for vengeance, they were going along swimmingly. Draco had informed her that Blaise had made initial contact with Ginny, and while nothing would happen between them just yet he was testing the waters and finding the redhead extremely receptive to his charms. Also the Death Eater attacks were still an ongoing source of concern within the wizarding world, and the press were beginning to wonder about Dumbledore's story regarding Athena. If the Headmaster had been telling the truth then the Death Eaters were wasting their time, but something had the Death Eaters convinced that Dumbledore was lying and the press were extremely interested in what that was and spent a lot of time speculating about what the truth really was.

While Hermione's plans for vengeance were coming along great, things were slower moving with the wands. Hermione was still cautious of Dumbledore watching her so meetings with Draco weren't quite as often as she would have liked, but they were now meeting up with more regularity than they had been at the beginning of term. However the meetings still weren't yielding the powerful results Hermione had been hoping for. Their connection was growing stronger with every meeting and even in lessons the pair could feel the extra magic they could wield, although they were very careful not to let anyone notice their magic was much stronger than it should be.

Finally a week before Easter break, Draco and Hermione made a breakthrough with their magic. After spending an hour trying to synchronise their magic, and not getting anywhere, Draco persuaded Hermione to take a break. Of course their break resulted in them ending up in bed, which was where they were still lying without their clothes on.

"Maybe we should try synching our magic now," Draco suggested, running his hand down Hermione's bare arm. "Maybe our relaxed frame of mind will help."

"It can't hurt to try," Hermione replied. "Pass the wands."

Draco leaned over to where the wands had been placed on the table beside the bed and handed Hermione her wand. He then gripped his own wand as the couple resettled themselves on the bed. Instead of sitting up properly, Hermione remained where she was leaning against Draco's chest, while he remained settled beside her with his empty hand wrapped around her waist.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded. "One the count of three. One. Two. Three."

"Protego," the duo cried in perfect unison. They'd decided right from the beginning to practice with a fairly basic spell, and had chosen a one that could come in very handy if they ever found themselves in trouble.

Normally the pair both made separate magical shields that were stronger than normal, but this time their shields blended together and formed a dome around the bed. The dome lasted for all of three seconds before disappearing again, but at least it was progress.

"We did it," Hermione beamed happily. "It still needs work, but it's progress."

"It is," Draco nodded, equally as happy that they'd finally combined their magic.

"I wonder what made the difference," Hermione mused. "Do you think it was because we were more relaxed than normal?"

"It could bem" Draco shrugged. "Or it could be the fact we're physically touching. We've never tried casting a spell when we're touching each other in any way. Maybe the physical contact helps synchronise our magic."

"Of course. Why didn't I think of it sooner?" Hermione muttered. "It makes sense that physical contact will help, especially considering we're bonded through magic, not just connected by our wands. We've always had a strong reaction to touching each other, it makes sense that it would help with our wand skills."

"It's definitely something to work on," Draco said. "We can keep practising using physical contact to help us. It might help us master the connection quicker, then it might be easier to cast spells without physically touching."

"Narcissa did say once we'd mastered this it would come as second nature to us," Hermione agreed. She had no doubt that if they mastered the synchronising of their magic using physical contact it would be easy to them transfer that skill to when they weren't touching.

"Do you want to go some more?" Draco asked his girlfriend.

"Do you mean practice with our wands, or sex?" Hermione questioned, not sure what exactly Draco was talking about as his hand was caressing her bare hip.

"Whatever you want," Draco grinned. "I'm up to doing both if you are."

"We'll practice with our wands first," Hermione decided. "If we can keep making progress we can then celebrate by having a bit of fun."

"Deal," Draco replied eagerly.

Hermione chuckled at Draco's enthusiasm as she got out of bed and slipped on his shirt. While she fully intended on heading back to bed later on, for now they needed to remain focused. What Hermione was planning on doing was testing just what sort of physical contact was needed to synchronise their magic. She wanted to know if they needed to be seriously intertwined, like they had been the first time they succeeded, or if simply holding hands could have the same effect.

By the time Hermione and Draco left the room a few hours later they had a few more answers. The more physical contact there was between them the easier it was to synchronise their magic, but even holding hands created a smaller version of the dome they'd first created in bed. Hopefully with a bit more practice they cast spells just as strong by holding hands, and eventually be able to cast simultaneous spells while not touching at all.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

It wasn't until halfway through the last week of term that Hermione realised that they'd had no word to say Charlie had been injured by a dragon at the sanctuary. While it didn't really matter when the accident occurred, Hermione had hoped it would be before Easter as after the holidays their focus would be on bringing down Dumbledore. The only other thing that would be happening was Ginny being exposed as the school tart, but Draco was in charge there and it was up to him that everything ran smoothly.

However as luck would have it on the last day of term, Ron received a letter from Molly. The very fact that she'd written on the last day of term when she would be seeing them later that day had both Ron and Ginny worried about what had happened. Deciding to open the letter in a bit of privacy the two Weasley siblings headed to the boys dorms with Harry and Hermione joining them for support.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Hermione asked when Ron and Ginny just stood looking at the letter.

"What if it's more bad news?" Ginny sighed. "I think we're cursed this year, we've had nothing but bad luck."

"Yeah, first there was that palaver with Percy, then Bill had his accident. Then the twins lost their investor and are in serious danger of losing the shop, while we might lose The Burrow," Ron said. "Whatever is in this letter won't be good news, I just know it."

"You can't not open it though," Hermione pointed out. "You need to know what's happening."

"You do it," Ginny said, taking the letter from Ron's hand and giving it to Hermione to open.

Hermione checked it was okay with Ron, before she opened the letter and read what Molly had to say. As usual there was a lot of blathering about nothing special, but finally towards the bottom there was a mention of an incident in Romania. Molly said that Charlie had gotten into a scrape with a dragon and had suffered some burns, however she insisted that he was completely fine and insisting it was just part of the job.

"Well, what it is?" Ron prompted his girlfriend. "What's happened now?"

"Charlie has had an accident with a dragon, but don't worry your mother reckons he's fine," Hermione told the siblings. "According to this, Charlie himself is taking it in his stride and claiming it's just part of his job."

"That's a relief," Ron sighed, flopping onto his bed. "Charlie's had loads of minor accidents over the years. We knew he would get into some scrapes, working with dragons it's inevitable."

"But isn't it funny that he's had an accident this year," Harry said thoughtfully. "Just when things are going so badly for your family."

"It's a natural part of working with dangerous creatures," Ron told his friend. "It doesn't mean anything."

"It means your family has had some serious bad luck this year, as have mine," Harry said.

"What are you getting at, Harry?" Ginny questioned, failing to see what her family's bad luck had to do with what Harry had gone through this year.

"I don't think all these incidents are just a coincidence," Harry told his friends. "I think our families are being targeted. You mentioned it yourself, how much your family has suffered this year. Everything that has happened may have happened at any time over the years, but it's all happened together. Shortly after Percy is framed for releasing a pile of Death Eaters, Bill has a serious accident. He's barely home when the twins get into trouble with their business, and then Charlie has an accident."

"When you say it like that it does sound suspicious." Ron remarked, sitting up and paying much more attention to the conversation that was going on.

"Then you've got to think about my family as well," Harry continued on with his theory. "First I was targeted with a rogue bludger and was lucky not to be seriously injured. Dumbledore confirmed the bludger was sent after me, he just couldn't find out who enchanted it. A few weeks later my father is killed and some random woman shows up claiming to have been having an affair with him. Sirius is then set up for an attack on this woman and sent to Azkaban, which was the reason the twin's investor gave for pulling out of the business."

"Everything is connected," Ginny stated quietly.

"But who is behind all this, Harry?" Hermione asked, eager to hear everything Harry was thinking.

"The same person who's behind all the Death Eater attacks. Lucius Malfoy," Harry announced carefully. "Somehow over the summer he's discovered that Athena is still alive and he's set out to find her. He's making his quest public knowledge with the attacks, and targeting the people closest to Dumbledore who are more likely to know the truth. Everyone knows our parents and Sirius are amongst Dumbledore's most trusted allies."

"As are Professors Lupin and Snape, and the Longbottoms, and none of them have been targeted," Hermione pointed out.

"Firstly no-one but Dumbledore trusts Snape, he's likely working with Lucius," Harry answered. "And Lupin and the Longbottoms might be targeted soon, you never know."

"But why target your families?" Hermione asked. "What is that going to achieve?"

"Maybe he's hoping someone will speak out of turn and reveal something about Athena," Harry replied weakly. To be honest what someone wanted to achieve from the attacks wasn't clear to him, although after weeks of thinking he was positive everything that had happened had been a clear coordinated attack on the two families.

"But they don't know anything," Ron said. "We spoke to Lupin, and he only knows what Dumbledore told the Order after the Death Eater attacks started."

"Sirius knows more," Harry said firmly. "If that's all he knew, he wouldn't have promised to tell me everything over Easter. He would have told me there and then that he knew nothing, but he didn't, he promised to give me some answers."

"And you can't get them now, not while he's in Azkaban," Ginny sighed in disappointment.

"Sirius can't have been the only one to know more," Harry pointed out. "If he knows more, then my father knew more. If my father knew more about Athena, he would have told my mother."

"You can't bother Lily with this," Hermione said to Harry. "She's grieving. Not only has she lost James, but now Sirius is gone and she's all alone when you're not around."

"I don't want to bother Mum," Harry admitted. "That's why I though Ron and Ginny could quiz their parents. They might also know something more about Athena, and given what's happened to them lately they might be willing to say something that gives us a clue about where she is."

"And what happens if your plan works, and Molly and Arthur give you some valuable information?" Hermione asked. "What happens if you track down Athena?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead," Harry replied, but Hermione didn't believe him for a second.

The cold glint in his eye told her that Harry had already settled on a course of action, and it would be one that resulted in her losing her life. Luckily Hermione had time to prepare for any attack Harry might throw at her. With a bit of luck by the time they returned after the Easter holidays she and Draco would have mastered their connection with their wands, and if they had, nothing Harry could throw at her would work. He had no chance against both her and Draco.


	33. Chapter 33

As usual Hermione's parents still had to work during the school holidays, providing her the perfect opportunity to visit the manor on a regular basis. After perfecting her timing over summer and Christmas, Hermione knew that as long as she was at home when her parents returned that they would never realise she'd been gallivanting in the wizarding world.

Hermione's first few visits to the manor provided perfect opportunity for Narcissa to show Draco and Hermione all the research notes she'd gathered on their wand connection. For a couple of days the couple settled themselves in the Malfoys vast library, devouring everything Narcissa had kindly found for them. In one of the books, Hermione found a section that mentioned a physical connection was helpful in establishing the initial ability to synchronise magic. According to the book it was rumoured that a couple with a strong physical connection could achieve far greater things than those with a weaker physical connection.

After a couple of days scouring books, Draco and Hermione were ready to practice with their new found knowledge. Since Narcissa had also read everything the couple had and had been the one to speak to Ollivander, she was present as the pair tried to work on their connection. Since the nice weather was starting up again the couple decided to try their skills outside in the garden.

"Why don't you try a different spell?" Narcissa suggested during one session. She'd been watching the pair for several days and they could now form a perfect protective dome around them both without having to be touching, or even be that close to one another.

"I guess we do need to extend our repertoire," Draco agreed. "Protecting ourselves is all well and good, but it's not going to help us much. We need to be able to perform all sorts of magic, including some more proactive spells."

"Okay, we can try some other spells," Hermione replied, happy to move on with their practice now she was confident they would be safe from any attack.

Instead of defensive magic the couple turned their attention to attacking magic. Because they'd already settled into synchronising their magic, they mastered other spells a lot quicker. Within the first hour of practising the pair had blasted a tree to smithereens and blew a large hole in the middle of the lawn.

"Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut," Narcissa grumbled, looking around at the destruction in her beloved garden.

"Don't worry Mother, we'll fix everything," Draco reassured Narcissa. "Although you should be grateful we're not in the manor, imagine the destruction we could cause in the house."

"I shudder to think," Narcissa chuckled. "Just please make sure you have full control over this before casting any spells in the house. I don't want any accidents."

"Don't worry, we're very careful about our spell casting when we're not practising," Hermione said. "The synchronisation is starting to take hold, so we have to be extra careful in lessons. A couple of times I've felt the pull of being synchronised beginning and I've had to stop the spell I was casting."

"I've done that as well," Draco agreed. "And I think by the time we go back to school, we'll have to work even harder to hide our connection."

"Luckily it's only for a few months," Hermione shrugged. "We can cope for a few months."

"I'm sure you can," Narcissa nodded, satisfied that the pair were more than capable of being careful. "Now don't forget to sort the garden before you come inside."

Leaving the couple to practise some more, Narcissa headed indoors. Almost as soon as they were alone, Draco pulled Hermione into his arms and suggested they take a break.

"And where did you plan on taking this break?" Hermione asked with an amused smile.

"My bedroom is a pretty relaxing place," Draco replied. "I'm sure we could have a break up there. I do happen to have a lovely big bed."

"A nap could be a good idea," Hermione teased. "I am a bit tired."

"That's a shame, I was hoping to do something a bit more active," Draco pouted.

"You know, by the time we've sorted the garden I think we might be a bit muddy. I bet we're going to need a shower," Hermione replied mischievously.

"I like your logic," Draco grinned. "Let's get fixing the garden up."

Five minutes later Narcissa's garden was looking as perfect as ever. Hermione and Draco however had mud stains on their faces and they both had flecks of mud in their hair and on their clothes. Tidying up could have been performed without the mess, but it all added to the fun of claiming that they needed a shower.

"You were right," Draco told his girlfriend as they headed towards the house. "We need a shower."

"We could conserve water and shower together," Hermione suggested as though that wasn't what they were planning on doing all along.

"You're full of good ideas," Draco grinned, throwing his arm over her shoulders.

"I am," Hermione agreed. "And I have plenty of ideas about how we get ourselves cleaned up."

"What are we waiting for, let's go," Draco laughed, tugging Hermione up the back stairs and towards his bedroom.

Once in the privacy of Draco's room the couple stripped off their clothes and cast a few light cleaning spells on them to rid them of the dirt they had on them. The pair then made their way into Draco's adjoined bathroom, where they hopped into his large shower together. When they finally emerged over an hour later they were both spotlessly clean and extremely satisfied.

When they'd redressed they used magic to dry their hair, before they headed off downstairs. The afternoon was getting on and Hermione would have to be leaving shortly if she wanted to be home in time for her parents to return home. If she wasn't there when her parents initially arrived it wouldn't matter too much as she could claim she'd gone for a walk or popped to the shops, but she couldn't risk returning home hours after they'd arrived back.

When the pair poked their heads into the front room they found Lucius was home and he was sitting talking to Narcissa. So far over the holidays, Draco's father hadn't been around too much as he was busy with work and he was finalising the details of the werewolf attack that would be happening any day now.

"How's your practice going?" Lucius asked the teenagers as they sat down on the sofa together.

"We're coming along great," Hermione replied with a grin. "By the end of the holidays, we'll have made excellent progress."

"Good," Lucius smiled.

"And how's your progress, coming along?" Hermione asked the older wizard. "Is the werewolf attack all set?"

"It is," Lucius nodded. "In fact it will be taking place tonight. It's a full moon, perfect for such an attack."

"If that's the case, I might not be here tomorrow," Hermione said. "I don't know if anyone will contact me to inform me of what's happened, but they might and I don't want to be missing."

"We understand if you won't be here for the next few days," Draco reassured his girlfriend. "You have to keep up the pretence, we can't afford anyone getting suspicious, especially with your plans for Dumbledore."

"Does that mean you've finalised your plans for the old fool?" Lucius questioned. While Hermione had been upfront with her desire for Dumbledore to die, she'd been very secretive about what would lead up to his death, although Lucius suspected it could end up being rather spectacular.

"I have," Hermione nodded happily. "I should really tell you about them, as you're going to need to play your part to perfection."

"We're all ears," Lucius said as he and Narcissa settled back to hear about Hermione's plans.

Luckily Hermione had time to run through her plans before she was due to leave. Aware of her time limitations, Hermione gave Lucius and Narcissa a brief outlook on her idea with the promise to fill them in on further details as soon as she could.

"I have to hand it to you, Athena. That's an impressive plan," Lucius said. "Your father would be proud."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled happily at the thought that she would be making her father proud, after all what had happened to him and her mother was the sole reason she was seeking vengeance in the first place and it made her feel good to know her plans would have met with his approval.

"Are you sure you'll be able to carry all of that out without provoking suspicion?" Narcissa checked.

"The only potential problem will be if Ron's parents have talked over the holidays," Hermione said. "As long as when we go back to school Harry and Ron are unaware of who I truly am, everything will run smoothly."

"And will you be safe when this all blows up?" Narcissa asked. "You're going to be right in the midst of things when you're exposed, what if they hurt you?"

"They'll be too shocked to physically hurt me and even if they did consider hurting me, we'll be in public. They won't risk harming their reputation further by attacking me when I'm clearly an innocent party in all of this," Hermione replied with confidence. "Besides that's where you and Lucius come into play. Once the big reveal has happened, you step forward and whisk me away to safety."

"If everything works, this will be spectacular," Narcissa admitted.

"It'll work," Hermione replied with confidence as she stood up. "Now, I really have to go. I'll be back as soon as I can because we still have things to discuss and Draco and I need more wand practice. I want to tell you all the details of the plan and we need to consider what will happen to Dumbledore once this happens and how we can then get to him and kill him."

"We'll have everything sorted before we return to school," Draco reassured his girlfriend as he gave her a quick kiss goodbye. "Now go home before your parents come back and find you missing."

Saying goodbye to the Malfoys, Hermione left the manor and apparated home, arriving back at her house a few minutes before her parents returned from work.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Since Hermione didn't know when, or even if, her friends would contact her after the werewolf attack it made sense for her to stick close to home. Without plans to head to the manor for the day, Hermione rose later than normal. By the time she was dressed and arrived downstairs her parents had already left for work, but they'd shouted goodbye up the stairs as they'd left. All alone in the house, Hermione made herself a cup of coffee and settled down with a bowl of cereal.

Halfway through her cereal she spotted a very familiar owl approaching the back window. Getting up Hermione opened the window and Harry's owl, Hedwig flew directly into the house and landed on the back of the chair she'd just vacated.

"Hey Hedwig." Hermione stroked the owl as she untied the letter around the snowy owl's leg.

Instead of immediately opening the letter, Hermione first gave Hedwig a handful of treats from the owl treats she kept for when she corresponded with Draco or her friends. Once Hedwig was settled with some treats, Hermione tore open the letter from Harry. As she hoped her friend had written to inform her about events of the previous evening. While Harry didn't really go into much detail he did say that Arthur was in St Mungo's, and he thought the family, especially Ron, would appreciate having her around as support.

Leaving Hedwig to finish her treats, Hermione ran upstairs and got ready to go out. Once she was ready, she made sure Hedwig headed back to Harry, before checking the house was locked up safely. Hermione then apparated to St Mungo's, where she began the long process of finding out what had happened to Arthur.

Since Hermione wasn't actually family the staff at St Mungo's were less than helpful, especially since all Hermione could tell them was that Arthur Weasley had been admitted, she couldn't even tell them what ward he was in. Hermione had been trying to persuade the receptionist she was a family friend when luck shone on her and across the reception she spotted Fred and George emerging from a lift.

"Hermione, are you here to see Dad?" Fred asked as Hermione waved the twins over to her.

"I am," Hermione replied. "But I'm having problems getting to see him since I'm not family."

"You're family in our eyes," George said, glaring at the witch sitting behind reception. "Come on, we'll take you upstairs."

"Weren't you two just leaving?" Hermione asked as she followed the twins towards the lifts.

"We were only popping home to grab some things for Dad, we can do that after we've made sure you've gotten upstairs safely," Fred replied as the trio stepped into the lift.

"Is Bill in the hospital somewhere?" Hermione asked, wondering what the situation was with the eldest Weasley. She hadn't heard Ron or Ginny mention him lately, and she was hoping he wasn't seriously hurt. It was Molly and Arthur she really wanted to hurt, not the rest of the family.

"He's on the floor above Dad," George said. "Although at least he's awake now. He'll still be in hospital for a while, but he'll be fine."

"Mum's spending her time flitting between the two floors," Fred added. "So don't be surprised when she comes and goes regularly."

Hermione was just going to ask what exactly had happened to Arthur, since she wasn't supposed to know, when the lift stopped and they emerged onto the floor when Arthur was situated. A glance at the sign beside the life showed they were on the floor that dealt with injuries caused by magical creatures.

"Here's the family room," Fred said, heading for a nearby door. "Everyone should be inside, unless they're with Dad. Tell them we'll be back shortly."

While Fred and George headed off to go and grab some things from The Burrow, Hermione entered the family room. There was no sign of Molly, but Ron, Ginny and Harry were all in the room. Ginny and Harry smiled sadly at Hermione when she entered and Ron jumped up and embraced his girlfriend.

"I'm so pleased you're here," Ron said, clinging onto Hermione.

Fighting the urge to push Ron off her, Hermione returned the hug before she gently prised Ron off her.

"What exactly is going on?" She asked, sitting down beside Harry and Ginny and taking Ron with her. "What's happened?"

"Last night there was a Death Eater raid on the village near to where we live," Ginny explained. "Mum and Dad went to help along with other members of the Order. In the process Dad got hurt."

"I would ask if he was hit by a curse, but we're in the wrong ward for that," Hermione said. "Why are we in the ward that treats injuries caused by magical creatures?"

"Because Dad was attacked by a werewolf," Ron whispered

"Bloody hell," Hermione gasped, feigning surprise. "How did that happen? Was he bitten?"

"No, he wasn't bitten, just badly scratched," Harry answered, knowing both Ron and Ginny found the whole thing too distressing to talk about. "Arthur won't turn into a werewolf, but he will be permanently disfigured and he's lost his left eye."

This time Hermione's gasp of shock was genuine. While she'd been happy to allow a werewolf attack to take place she'd never given much thought to what the consequences would be. But then again, losing an eye was preferable to losing your life, which was what her parents had suffered.

"How did it happen?" Hermione asked again. "What was this werewolf doing amidst a Death Eater attack?"

"His name's Greyback, and he's a supporter of Voldemort, or rather he was when he was alive. He's obviously still a part of the Death Eaters, and no doubt a friend of Lucius Malfoy's," Harry answered with a sneer. "Greyback is a vicious creature and he likes nothing better than biting people to turn them into werewolves. Unlike most werewolves he can turn into a wolf when he wants as he's embraced the wolf as part of his personality."

"He sounds charming," Hermione muttered.

"He's a bastard," Harry spat. "He was the werewolf that bit Remus when he was a child."

"If he likes biting people so much why didn't he bite Arthur?" Hermione questioned, genuinely curious. She'd hadn't forbidden Arthur being turned into a werewolf, so she wondered what had stopped Greyback from having his fun.

"Kingsley saw Greyback ravaging Dad and stepped in," Ron answered quietly. "He saved his life."

"This is all so horrible," Hermione sighed, squeezing Ron's hand in a supportive manner. "I can't believe it's happened."

"I can," Harry said as he stood up and began to pace. "I think this whole thing was deliberate. I think Lucius Malfoy set Greyback on Arthur."

"It was just bad luck Dad got hurt," Ginny told Harry soothingly. "Anyone could have been attacked by Greyback."

"But they weren't. Yet again it was part of your family that was hurt," Harry pointed out. "The attack happened near to your home, where your parents were bound to see it and intervene. And Greyback never touched anyone else, no-one else is being treated for wounds caused by him. He waited for Arthur and deliberately targeted him."

"You can't prove any of that Harry," Hermione said.

"I know," Harry sighed dejectedly as he slumped down in the seat beside Ginny.

"Don't worry Harry, we'll help you find the proof," Ginny said, taking hold of Harry's hand and smiling at the raven haired wizard. "We'll help put an end to this once and for all. We'll do whatever it takes, won't we Ron?"

"We will," Ron agreed with a firm nod.

Hermione wasn't fazed by Ron and Ginny's pledge to help Harry, but she was disturbed to witness how friendly Harry and Ginny were looking. The pair were still holding hands and looking at each other with sappy smiles. The last thing that Hermione wanted was for the pair's friendship to turn into romance, not when they hadn't yet managed to expose Ginny as a tart. In time Harry and Ginny might get over the incident and become a couple, but Hermione didn't want that happening just yet. She wanted Harry, Ron and Ginny to suffer before they got on with their lives. She could still clearly hear every vile thing they had said about her, and in her opinion they deserved to suffer for that alone.


	34. Chapter 34

After Arthur's accident, Hermione split the rest of her Easter holidays between supporting the Weasleys at St Mungo's and visiting the manor. When she was at the manor, Hermione and Draco continued to work on synchronising their magic and she managed to have a long talk with Lucius and Narcissa regarding her plans for Dumbledore. With what she had planned they had no way of knowing what would happen to Dumbledore after graduation, but Lucius promised Hermione they would still find a way to kill him so she could compete her vengeance and move on with her life.

Whenever Hermione was around the Weasleys she kept a close eye on Harry and Ginny's blossoming friendship. The pair still looked to be getting friendlier, and Hermione was becoming increasingly worried that they would be romantically involved by the time they returned to school. However according to Ron, who Hermione had spoken to about the burgeoning romance, Harry wasn't ready to begin any sort of romantic relationship. Hermione was guessing that Harry had confided in Ron, but she was still nervous about how things were progressing.

With Hermione's worries about Harry and Ginny still bubbling when they headed back to school, she decided it was time to ensure they put their plans into place sooner rather than later. After settling into a compartment with her friends, Hermione made an excuse about doing patrols as Head Girl so she could go and find Draco. A quick walk down the train revealed which compartment her boyfriend and his friends were in, now all she needed was an excuse to enter the compartment and make it clear to Draco she wanted to talk. Luckily for Hermione, an excuse fell into her hands when a loud exploding noise sounded from the boy's compartment. Without hesitation Hermione yanked open the door, only to be greeted by thick smoke.

"What is going on here?" she demanded, pulling out her wand and clearing the smoke.

"What's it got to do with you?" Theo asked.

"I'm Head Girl, and I need to know if students are safe," Hermione retorted.

"As you can see Granger, we're all perfectly safe," Draco said with a smirk. "You don't need to worry about us."

"I wasn't worrying about you. You lot could blow yourselves up for all I care," Hermione shot back. "I'm worried about the younger students, and if whatever you're up to will endanger them."

"There's no younger students here," Blaise pointed out. "There's just the five of us."

"But what were you doing?" Hermione demanded, making sure she caught Draco's eye and her boyfriend understood she wanted to talk to him.

"Nothing for you concern yourself with," Draco replied. "Run along back to your little friends, and leave us alone."

"Don't tell me, I couldn't care less," Hermione shrugged. "But the five of you have each earned yourself a detention next weekend and you'll each lose five house points."

Smirking at the shocked Slytherins, Hermione turned on her heel and exited the compartment. She'd barely made it three steps when she heard Draco following her out and the next thing she knew her boyfriend had her pressed up against the wall of the train, his most fearsome expression on his face.

"That was uncalled for Granger," Draco spat loud enough so the nosey people who were looking out of their compartments would hear what was going on.

"Get off me Malfoy, or else I'll dock more points and give you another detention," Hermione hissed.

"I'd like to see you try," Draco sneered as he moved his head even closer to Hermione. "What's wrong?" he whispered, knowing no-one else could hear.

"I want the plan with Ginny activating as soon as possible. She needs to be caught with Blaise sooner rather than later," Hermione whispered back before she raised her hands and pushed her boyfriend away from her, continuing on with their pretence of arguing. "That's another ten points lost, do you want to try for more?"

"Uppity cow," Draco sneered as he turned around and headed back into his compartment, slamming the door behind him.

Knowing people were still watching her, Hermione made an effort to look as though she was pulling herself together before she turned and headed back to her own compartment. As she left the part of the train where Draco and his friends had been sitting she could hear people gossiping and knew that by the time they reached Hogwarts the whole school would know she'd had an altercation with Draco.

"You're back," Ron grinned when Hermione stepped into the compartment.

"Is everything okay?" Ginny asked as Hermione sat down with a sigh.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "I just had a run in with Malfoy and his mates. There was some sort of explosion in their compartment, and when I went to check what was going on they weren't happy."

"Did Malfoy do anything to you?" Ron questioned. "I swear, if he touched you, I'll kill him."

Hermione had to work hard not to laugh at the mere idea of Ron trying to take on Draco. Her boyfriend would have the redhead on his backside before he'd even managed to produce his wand.

"I'm fine," Hermione reassured Ron. "I can handle Malfoy. He's all talk."

"So what was the explosion in the Slytherin compartment?" Ginny asked.

"I have no idea," Hermione shrugged. She would have to try and talk to Draco later and find out what had actually happened. "I just heard the bang as I was passing. Until I went in to investigate, I had no idea who was in the compartment."

"Did you not ask them what they were doing?" Harry pressed, worried in case the Slytherins were up to no good.

"Of course I asked them, but they refused to answer," Hermione replied. "To be honest I couldn't be bothered arguing with them. Whatever it was everything looked fine in the compartment."

"I bet it was something dark," Harry muttered. "I bet the whole lot of them are up to their necks in all this Death Eater business."

"You can't know that, Harry," Ginny said, jumping in before Hermione had a chance to speak. "Not all Slytherins are evil."

"Since when has your opinion changed?" Ron demanded of his little sister. "You know as well as Harry and I do, what the Slytherins have done over the years. You know there's no good in them whatsoever."

"I just think that not all of them are like that," Ginny admitted quietly. "A few of them might be alright if you gave them a chance."

"Maybe," Harry shrugged. "But not Malfoy and his friends, that lot are pure evil. And I'd bet anything that whatever happened today was a result of them planning something. We need to keep a close eye on them this term."

Hermione's attention drifted off as Harry and Ron got into a discussion about how best to keep tabs on the Slytherins. Hermione was also aware that Ginny didn't join in the conversation, instead she was sitting looking out of the window as she bit her fingernails nervously. Hermione was just about to ask Ginny if everything was alright when she heard the name Athena mentioned.

"What was that you've just said?" she asked Harry and Ron.

"Sorry, I thought you'd heard," Harry apologised. "I was just saying that I may have some information about Athena."

"How?" Ginny asked. "We never got a chance to talk to Mum and Dad before Dad's attack, and I thought you weren't going to bother your Mum."

"I didn't bother her, she was upset and she'd had a few drinks," Harry told his friends. "She was rambling a bit, so I'm not sure how accurate anything she was saying is."

"What did she say?" Ron asked, practically sitting on the edge of his seat in anticipation.

"She said that maybe Dad was right, and they should have been more careful regarding Athena," Harry said. "I tried asking what she meant, but she went quiet. However, just as she was going to sleep she warned me to be careful, that Athena was closer than I realised."

"What does she mean by that?" Ron frowned.

"I think it means we know Athena," Harry replied. "I've been thinking about what we know about Athena, and we're actually missing one vital piece of information; how old she is. She's just been referred to as Voldemort's daughter, it's never been said how old she was when Dumbledore saved her life."

"I can't believe we never picked up on this sooner," Ron said, slapping his hand against his forehead. "How could we have been so stupid?"

"So how old do you think she is?" Ginny asked Harry.

"I'm not sure exactly, but we have been told she's been raised well away from the dark and has no idea who she truly is. To me that indicates she was saved when she was fairly young," Harry answered. "It would have been much harder ensuring she was raised away from the dark if she had memories of being around Voldemort."

"Unless of course the Order obliviated her," Hermione pointed out. "Who knows how old she was when her parents died."

"Hermione has a point," Ginny said. "She could have been saved at six or seven and had her past memories obliviated."

"I never thought of that," Harry admitted. "But even if that was the case, whoever she is has to be near to us in some way. Athena isn't some random witch, she's someone nearby."

"So who are our options?" Ron queried.

"We could be looking at almost any girl in the last couple of years of school," Harry said. "Considering when Athena was saved, I would say she could be around Ginny's age at the youngest. If she was already older when she was saved, she may have already left school, but is still known to us."

"And don't forget she'll probably have connections to the Order," Ginny added. "Dumbledore made it clear he's known her all this time, therefore it makes sense if her family are connected to the Order."

"Well that rules out all the girls in Slytherin," Ron said. "Dumbledore wouldn't place Athena with any family that had connection to the dark."

"He doesn't necessarily need to have placed her with someone connected to the Order," Harry warned. "All it has to be is a family with no dark connections. Any normal wizarding family would do and he could have been watching her from afar."

"That opens the field up a lot," Ginny remarked. "Just considering sixth and seventh years, that's a lot of girls. Even if you take out the Slytherins, or any other families with connections to the dark."

"And muggleborns," Harry said. "Dumbledore wouldn't have risked placing her with muggles. He could have easily lost track of her that way."

"Yeah, he'll have wanted to keep her close," Ron agreed.

"So let's get this straight, we're looking at any witch in sixth and seventh year whose family are free from dark connections and aren't muggles. That's still a fair few options to choose from," Ginny said.

"It is," Harry sighed. "Although we now also have to think about if she's older."

"I think that selection is pretty narrow," Ron mused. "We don't really have contact with any witch whose left school, so why would your Mum warn us to be careful."

"I can think of one witch who's older and is involved with the Order," Ginny said quietly. "Tonks."

Nymphadora Tonks was the daughter of Narcissa's sister, Andromeda. Tonks was a few years older than the group, but Hermione could see why she was an option in Ginny's mind. For Tonks to have been Athena she would have had to have had her memories obliviated, so it would make sense to place her with a family that was closely connected to the Order. Also with recent events, Tonks had been around much more and it would make sense if Lily was warning Harry about her.

"That's a really good idea, Ginny," Harry said.

"But how are we going to know if it's true?" Ron questioned. "How are we going to know if anyone we suspect of being Athena really is her or not?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But I do know we have to be very careful around other witches. Hermione and Ginny are the only two girls we can trust, we can't take the chance that any of the others are Athena."

Hermione inwardly smirked when Harry announced she was someone to be trusted implicitly. She had been worried when Harry confessed that Lily had been talking, but luckily Harry had completely overlooked her when thinking about possibilities of who Athena could be. Now for the rest of the term Harry and Ron would go around being suspicious about everyone else while she was above suspicion, and she was the one the pair should really be worried about. It was their best friend who was out to get them, and they would never see it coming.


	35. Chapter 35

"Okay lads, we need to discuss some plans," Draco announced, shutting the door to the boy's dorms firmly behind him and silencing it.

After the Slytherins had returned to the common room after dinner, Draco had told Blaise and Theo that he needed to speak to them privately. Luckily Crabbe and Goyle were more than happy in the common room playing exploding snap and munching their way through some extra dessert they'd smuggled out of the Great Hall.

"What sort of plans?" Blaise asked as he threw himself onto his bed.

"Weaselette," Draco replied. "It's time for the fun and games to begin."

"I thought this wasn't happening until later this term," Theo said. "Are we even set up to go this early?"

"It should work if the pair of you have been doing what I asked," Draco retorted. "Things have been running according to plan, haven't they?"

"They have on my end," Theo replied. "Ginny is more than happy to be having a secret relationship. I pretend I don't know she really wants Potter, and she pretends I'm the one she really wants. We're both getting some action, so we're both happy."

"Blaise?" Draco turned to his other friend, wanting to know how he was getting along.

"She's falling for my charms," Blaise grinned cockily. "A few flirtations with her and she's almost throwing herself at me. It'll be easy to seduce her."

"Of course it will, she's ridiculously easy," Theo snorted. "I'd barely spoken to her and we were regularly making out in empty cupboards. The girl is a slapper."

"But is she any good?" Blaise questioned.

"She's not bad actually," Theo replied. "She's up for almost anything, and she's especially accommodating when it comes to oral sex."

"Nice," Blaise grinned. "I might end up getting something out of this before we're caught."

"Will you two stop, you can compare notes later," Draco tutted. He had no desire to hear what Ginny Weasley was like in the bedroom. "Right now we need to get a plan of action together. Theo, you need to establish that there's still something going on between the pair of you. Once you've done that, Blaise will swoop in and turn on the charm. When Blaise arranges a time and place for a clandestine meeting, he'll tell me and I'll do the rest."

"I'm still not sure I like the idea of being caught by Snape," Blaise muttered. "Can we not use another Professor?"

"Another Professor will give you detention and mean it, whereas Snape will make a show of giving you detention but you'll not actually have to do it," Draco pointed out. "Besides if another Professor catches you, there's less chance of rumours spreading down to the dungeons. Plus Snape knows exactly what is going on, and will ensure word of his discovery leaks out."

"Do we get to find out what the point of all this is now?" Theo questioned the blond wizard. "Why have you made such a fuss of us exposing Ginny as a tart?"

"I've already told you, I thought it would be fun to mess with her before we leave," Draco smirked.

"Why her?" Blaise questioned. "Why not target Potter, or Weasley, or even Granger? Why Weaselette?"

"Who says I haven't already had my fun with Potter?" Draco asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. "The first match of the Quidditch season was highly entertaining."

"That enchanted bludger was you," Theo gasped in understanding.

"Just a little spell my father taught me," Draco boasted. "Dumbledore was able to work out Potter had been the target, but the spell was untraceable so he had no idea who had cast it."

"Sneaky," Blaise laughed.

"I thought so," Draco grinned.

"Okay, so you've targeted Potter and Ginny. But why not Weasley and Granger?" Theo asked. "I know for a fact that Weasley infuriates the hell out of you."

"He does," Draco admitted. "But the year isn't over yet. Our last match of the season is against Gryffindor, I'm sure I can find some way of humiliating Weasley during it."

"What about Granger? Are we going to have any fun with her this year? Is she our next target?" Blaise questioned hopefully. He rather liked the idea of seducing Hermione as in his opinion she was much better looking than Ginny.

"The ice queen," Theo laughed. "The only thing you'll get from her is frostbite. Even Weasley is lucky if he gets a peck from her."

"We won't be able to get to Granger the same way as Weaselette," Draco told Blaise, ignoring Theo's cracks about Hermione so he didn't reveal anything about their relationship. "Unlike Weaselette, Granger isn't a tart. She's also incredibly smart, so getting one over on her will be hard."

"You're not giving up, are you?" Theo questioned disbelievingly. "You're not going to let her go unscathed, especially after the stunt she pulled on the train earlier. Because of her we lost piles of house points and we all have detention with McGonagall on Friday night."

"I didn't say I was giving up," Draco said. "Leave Granger to me, before the end of the year I'll have something figured out. I promise by the time we leave in a few months we'll have taught those Gryffindors a thing or two about messing with us Slytherins."

Much to Draco's relief, Blaise and Theo were happy to buy his excuses of having a bit of fun with the Gryffindors before they left school. Even though he'd never spoken to Hermione about filling his friends in on what had truly being going on, he was hoping that after graduation Hermione would be more than happy for him to tell Blaise and Theo the truth. As it was they would know who Hermione truly was, so he saw no reason for them not to know what had been going on the previous year. It wasn't as if either of them were going to tell anyone and spoil the innocent figure Hermione was going to portray herself as.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

By the end of the week everything was in place, much to Hermione and Draco's delight. Theo had done his part and ensured he and Ginny were still going strong, meanwhile Blaise had swooped in and seduced her. After their first encounter, Blaise had arranged a second one during lunchtime on Friday. With the meeting all arranged, Blaise had told Draco the details and he'd passed them onto Snape, who had reluctantly agreed to be a part of things since it was part of Hermione's plan for vengeance.

At lunchtime on Friday, Ginny was noticeably absent from lunch. Harry remarked on it several times, leading Hermione to suspect that he was finally beginning to pay attention to the redhead as more than a friend. Unfortunately for Harry the object of his desire was about to be exposed for what she truly was. Ginny never showed up for lunch, and Hermione was well aware that Blaise and Snape were missing as well. Hopefully that meant everything was going well and things would kick off at dinner time.

All afternoon Hermione wondered if things had gone okay, but her first indicator that things had gone to plan didn't arrive until she was heading into dinner with Harry and Ron. Ginny was sitting at the Gryffindor table while a smirking Draco was sitting quite happily at the Slytherin table with Blaise. Now all they needed was for Theo to make his grand entrance.

"Hey Ginny," Harry called, settling down next to the redheaded witch. "Why weren't you at lunch, we missed you."

"I was busy," Ginny muttered, keeping her head down.

"Doing what?" Ron questioned his sister.

Instead of answering her brother, Ginny looked up and gave Ron a hard stare before once again lowering her head. Harry and Ron shared a confused look at Ginny's behaviour, but both boys knew better than to push the subject so they grabbed some plates and began loading up with food.

Five minutes later almost everyone was in the Great Hall when suddenly the wooden doors came flying open, slamming off the walls they'd been opened with such force. The noise of course drew everyone's attention and the whole student body watched as Theo Nott stormed into the Great Hall.

"Zabini!" He yelled, storming over to his friend. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am," Blaise replied, pretending he knew nothing about what Theo was going on about.

"What sort of a friend shags my girlfriend?" Theo shouted, causing several people to gasp out loud.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Theo," Blaise said as he stood up and faced his friend. "I would never shag your girlfriend."

"But you did," Theo retorted. "You were even bloody caught with her at lunchtime. The whole dungeons are talking about Snape catching you in his classroom."

"What the hell?" Blaise frowned, playing innocent. "Since when have you been seeing Ginny?"

"Did he just say Ginny?" Ron whispered to Harry, convinced he'd heard wrong.

"I think so," Harry replied, looking over at Ginny who had her head buried in her hands and was refusing to look up.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Theo demanded, drawing Harry and Ron's attention back to the arguing Slytherins. "She was my girlfriend, and you shagged her."

"I had no idea she was with you," Blaise said. "I just wanted an easy shag and everyone knows they don't come much easier than Ginny Weasley."

Blaise's comments sent everything into a frenzy. Theo snarled at his friend, before launching himself at him and soon the two boys were rolling around on the floor. Harry and Ron had turned on Ginny and were demanding to know what was going on, quite harshly in Ron's case. Meanwhile the rest of the Great Hall was buzzing with people gossiping and cheering on the fight between the two Slytherins.

"Enough," Dumbledore bellowed from the front of the room. Apart from Theo and Blaise who were still fighting, the room fell silent. Pulling out his wand, Dumbledore separated the two fighting Slytherins. "Mr Nott, Mr Zabini, there's no need for fighting in the Great Hall."

"There is when he's been shagging my girlfriend," Theo spat.

"I didn't bloody know," Blaise shouted. "If you're going to blame someone, blame Ginny. She was the slapper spreading her legs for the pair of us."

"Mr Zabini that is enough," Dumbledore snarled. "If I ever hear you speaking about another student in such a way, you'll be in serious trouble. Now the pair of you, get down to Professor Snape's office. He'll be down in a minute to hand out punishments. And as for the rest of you, get on with your meal."

Still bickering between themselves Theo and Blaise exited the Great Hall, while everyone slowly returned to their food. While Harry and Ron got back to questioning Ginny, Hermione watched as Dumbledore spoke to Snape before the Potions master swept out of the room as he went to deal with his students. Dumbledore then spoke to McGonagall, who shook her head disappointedly before standing up and approaching the Gryffindor table.

"Miss Weasley, come with me," McGonagall said sharply. "We need a discussion about your behaviour."

"It's true, isn't it?" Harry mumbled as Ginny got up and sheepishly followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall.

"Of course it's true Potter," Draco laughed from behind Harry. For some reason the blond had moved seats and was now sitting directly behind Harry, although Hermione suspected the move was purely to annoy the raven haired wizard. "Everyone knows exactly what Weaselette is like, and the rumours about her and Blaise being caught together have been circulating all afternoon. Personally I'm surprised it's taken this long for her to be caught doing someone she shouldn't."

"Piss off, Malfoy," Ron snarled, balling his hands into fists as he glared at the blond Slytherin.

"Although you must be jealous as sin, Weaselbee," Draco chuckled. "Your little sister's had more action than you, and you're not exactly likely to get any going out with Granger."

"Go away, or I'll dock more house points," Hermione hissed at her boyfriend, even though what she really wanted to do was laugh at how well he could get under Harry and Ron's skin.

"You really need to address those power issues, Granger. If you're not careful you'll go mad with power," Draco retorted, before turning his back on the three Gryffindors and turning back to the other Slytherins.

"I just can't believe this," Harry said, burying his head in his hands. "This isn't like Ginny, she's not this sort of person."

"I would have said so too, but it appears to be true," Hermione said gently. "Why else would McGonagall want to talk to her about her behaviour if she hadn't been caught with Zabini?"

"Mum is going to go mad when she hears this," Ron muttered. "With everything that's going on, you would think Ginny could manage to keep herself out of trouble."

"How much trouble do you think she's in?" Harry asked Hermione.

"I don't know," Hermione said. "If Snape caught her and Blaise, I'm guessing he punished the pair of them. And I would guess McGonagall will add her own punishment for sullying the Gryffindor name."

"She should be booted out of Gryffindor," Ron declared angrily. "No self-respecting Gryffindor would go near a Slytherin, let alone two of them. She's a disgrace to Gryffindors, and more importantly she's a disgrace to us Weasleys. From now on, I want nothing to do with her."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Hermione asked. She knew that Ron would calm down eventually, but given his hot-headed nature she wasn't surprised that he was reacting so badly.

"No." Ron shook his head, but refused to talk any more about his sister.

Getting the message that Ginny wasn't to be mentioned, Harry and Hermione tried to find other things to talk about. However it was hard not to think about Ginny when every other conversation in the Great Hall revolved around the redheaded witch, and it was inevitable they would hear snippets of other conversations. Eventually Ron couldn't take the gossip any longer and before dessert was even served he announced he was heading back to Gryffindor Tower to have an early night. Knowing it would be pointless to go after Ron when he was in such a bad mood, Harry and Hermione let their friend go without following him. Instead they remained in the Great Hall to finish their meal.


	36. Chapter 36

Harry was still mulling over the situation with Ginny when he awoke on the Saturday morning. His previous night's sleep had been anything but restful, as he replayed events in the Great Hall over and over in his head. Despite not being in an actual relationship with Ginny, Harry couldn't help but feel hurt and betrayed by her actions. She'd made no secret of that fact she wanted to be with him, so why would she bed two Slytherins if that was really the case?

Harry had been aware of Ginny's romantic feelings towards him for years, although initially he ignored it. For a long time Harry thought they were far too young to be getting romantically attached. Then when girls did start registering on his romantic radar, he thought Ginny was still rather immature. Since attending the Yule Ball with Neville in her third year, Ginny had a constant stream of boyfriends. It wasn't until this year that her stream of boyfriends had dried up, which Harry took as a sign of her maturity and he'd let himself admit he did indeed fancy her and maybe they could be together at some point. However he was clearly wrong and her lack of public boyfriends wasn't anything to do with her maturing, it was obviously because she was involved with two Slytherins in secret.

Harry had always thought Ginny's string of boyfriends were pretty innocent, but from the gossip he'd head yesterday following the display in the Great Hall it would seem Ron's little sister was rather easy. From what Harry had heard bedding two lads at once wasn't unusual for Ginny, even if the house they were in was a strange choice. Harry had been appalled at the gossip, and the only good thing was that Ron was already in the dorm room so he didn't hear what was being said about his little sister.

Wondering how Ron was feeling about Ginny after a night's sleep, Harry looked over to where his friend was just getting out of bed. Ron grunted a good morning in Harry's direction before heading off to use the bathroom. When Ron returned he was more alert, and Harry gingerly broached the topic of what had happened the previous evening.

"I don't want to talk about it, Harry," Ron said sharply. "I'd rather forget it happened."

"What about Ginny?" Harry asked. "Are you still talking to her?"

"I'd rather not," Ron replied.

"You do remember we've got a quidditch practice today, don't you?" Harry checked with his friend.

With the last game of the season coming up in a few weeks, Harry had booked the pitch for an all-day training session. He was especially eager for the game to go well as they were playing Slytherin and there was nothing Harry wanted more than to end his school playing career with a crushing win against the house of snakes.

"I've remembered," Ron told his friend. "But I don't need to talk to Ginny to practise with her. Make sure she keeps out of my way, and we'll be fine."

Keeping Ginny out of Ron's way proved harder than either boy thought because as soon as they headed down into the common room they found Ginny waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Spotting Hermione waiting in the common room, Ron pushed past his sister, but Ginny grabbed onto his arm as he moved past her.

"Ron, wait. We need to talk."

"No, we don't," Ron spat, wrenching his arm out of Ginny's grip and whirling round to glare at his little sister. "We have nothing to talk about, we're done."

"Please, I can explain," Ginny begged.

"How?" Ron scoffed. "It's bad enough you got involved with one Slytherin, but getting involved with two is just unforgivable. And to make things worse, you even slept with the pair of them."

"I'm sorry," Ginny whispered.

"I'm not interested," Ron told his sister. "You're a tart Ginny, and I'm ashamed to call you my sister."

Ginny recoiled at the venom in her brother's words. "Don't say that," she whispered.

Instead of responding to his sister, Ron walked over to Hermione and took hold of her hand. "Harry, are you coming to breakfast?" he asked, looking back to where his best friend was still standing on the bottom stair.

"Yeah." Harry nodded as he moved into the common room. "Don't forget we have quidditch practice after breakfast," he coldly told Ginny as he swept past her.

"I can't," Ginny whispered, stopping the trio as they were about to exit the common room.

"What do you mean, you can't?" Harry demanded. "I've had this day booked since before Easter."

"McGonagall has removed me from the quidditch team following my behaviour," Ginny explained quietly, not daring to lift her head and look at her brother and the boy she loved.

"Thanks a lot Ginny," Harry spat through gritted teeth. "Now we have to find someone else to play in your place."

"You've really outdone yourself, haven't you?" Ron sneered, shaking his head at his younger sister. "First you let the whole school know you're a tart, and now you've gone and left us in the lurch before the game of the season. Great job, Gin."

"I'm sorry," Ginny sobbed, before she turned and bolted up to her bedroom.

"Weren't you two a little harsh on her?" Hermione asked hesitantly. In regards to her plans she was thrilled with the result, but she had to admit she was shocked by the harsh way Ron had turned on his own flesh and blood.

"She asked for everything she got," Ron replied. "Now let's go and get some breakfast, I'm starving."

"I also need to round up a few of our spare players," Harry sighed as the trio exited the common room. "I'm not sure who our best reserve chaser is, so we might have to spend the first hour this morning sorting out a new team."

When they arrived in the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione settled down to have breakfast while Harry spoke to a few people to get the word out that he wanted the reserve players at practice. Harry then joined his friends for breakfast and the trio spent the next half hour talking together and trying not to pay attention to the gossip about Ginny that was still swirling around the Great Hall.

"Are you coming to watch practise?" Ron asked Hermione as the trio exited the Great Hall after breakfast.

"I have some studying to do this morning, but I'll come out for a few hours after lunch," Hermione promised as she gave Ron a peck on the cheek. "See you at lunch, good luck," she called with a wave as she headed off to the library.

Harry watched the way his friends interacted with a sad smile on his face. They were so clearly happy together, and he couldn't help but be a bit envious of his friends.

"You're so lucky," Harry told Ron as they headed back to their rooms to change and grab their brooms.

"How?" Ron frowned, not sure what made him lucky.

"Hermione," Harry clarified. "She's amazing, you're lucky to have such a loving and loyal girlfriend."

"I admit, I lucked out when Hermione agreed to go out with me," Ron smiled.

"At least you know she would never behave like Ginny. Hermione would never dream of shagging a Slytherin," Harry said. "You've got yourself a keeper there mate. Whatever you do, don't let her go."

"I don't intend to," Ron said quietly, his mind in a whirl.

Harry's advice had just confirmed what he already knew, that Hermione was the one for him. Unwittingly Harry had also helped make his mind up about proposing to Hermione. Ron had been slightly hesitant to take such a huge step, but he agreed with Harry that he needed to make sure he didn't lose Hermione. And the best way to ensure he didn't lose Hermione was to marry her.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

"Admit it, I came through," Draco boasted as soon as he and Hermione entered their private room. The couple had met up shortly after breakfast and had snuck down to their room for a few hours.

"Blaise and Theo were the ones who came through," Hermione corrected as she curled up on the sofa. "They both played their parts brilliantly."

"But I was the one who came up with the plan, without me it never would have happened," Draco argued as he sat down next to his girlfriend.

"Okay, I guess I can give you a bit of the credit," Hermione said, chuckling at her boyfriend's put out expression. "Your plan was good."

"I told you that Weaselette would fall for it," Draco grinned. "She couldn't resist."

"I have to admit, I wasn't sure it would work," Hermione said. "But it's worked like a charm. Ron and Harry are barely speaking to her and she's even been kicked off the quidditch team."

"Speaking of quidditch, I've got something I want to run past you," Draco said. "When I was talking to Blaise and Theo about the plan for Weaselette, they asked what I was up to and why I wasn't messing with you, Potter and Weasley. I told them about Potter's enchanted bludger, and I mentioned I would get to Weasley during the last game of the season. Is that okay with you?"

"It's fine," Hermione nodded. "To be honest it might be a good idea considering our public humiliation plan has backfired. What did you have in mind?"

"I haven't decided yet, but I've got a few weeks to come up with something good."

"And what did you tell Blaise and Theo about me?" Hermione asked. "What are you supposed to be doing about me?"

"I just told them to leave you to me," Draco replied. "I'll convince them I've got something planned for graduation, or just after. That way I don't have to actually do anything."

"Make sure you don't," Hermione warned. "I will kill you, if you try to humiliate me."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Draco told his girlfriend. "I can think of much better things to do to you than humiliate you."

"Like what?"

Draco grinned seductively as he leaned over and brushed his lips against Hermione's. "I can give you so much pleasure," he whispered.

"Be my guest," Hermione replied.

Chuckling quietly, Draco reconnected their lips more forcefully as his hands began to wander over Hermione's body. Without bothering to move to the bed in the corner the young couple gave in to their passions. Draco kept to his vow and brought Hermione a lot of pleasure before the couple reluctantly redressed and straightened themselves up.

"How long can you stay?" Draco asked. Considering Hermione had been the one to instigate the redressing, he was guessing she was leaving soon, but he was hoping he might be wrong and she just wanted to talk or something.

"Not long actually," Hermione admitted with a sigh. "I promised to go and watch quidditch practice for a bit this afternoon. I need to keep up the pretence of being a good girlfriend. Plus I like to be around in case Harry decides to go off on one of his Athena rants. I need to know what he's thinking."

"I thought you said they'd found a candidate to be Athena," Draco frowned. "Haven't they convinced themselves it's my aunt's daughter?"

"At the minute they think its Tonks, but that might change," Hermione said. "I don't want to be caught unawares if they change their mind."

"So what else is on your agenda for the weekend?" Draco questioned. "Can I get a slice of your time tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Hermione shrugged. "I've got a head's meeting with Terry tomorrow, and I want to bring up my plan for Dumbledore. I need to get him on board, so it might take a while. I can try and get away after dinner, but I'll let you know if I can."

"I can't wait for this to be over," Draco said. "I'm looking forward to being able to see my girlfriend whenever I want and not have to hide it."

"It's only for a few more weeks," Hermione said. "Soon we'll be finished here and we can start fresh together. We can do whatever we want, and go wherever we want. We'll be free."

"That sounds perfect," Draco smiled.

"It's something to look forward to." Hermione said as she stood up. "Well, I should be going. I'll let you know about tomorrow evening. And keep me posted on what you have planned for Ron."

"I will," Draco promised. "Good luck with Boot. Let's hope you can persuade him to go along with your plan."

"Of course I can persuade him, I'm very persuasive," Hermione smirked.

Giving Draco one final lingering kiss, Hermione slipped out of the private room. Being extra careful not to be spotted, Hermione snuck through the dark corridors of the dungeons back to the main body of the school. Once she was clear of the dungeons, Hermione headed back to Gryffindor Tower where she dropped her bag off in her room and grabbed her jacket and a book to read for when she was outside with Harry and Ron. She then headed off to meet Harry and Ron for lunch, before accompanying them out to the quidditch pitch for a few hours. While Harry, Ron and the rest of the team practiced, Hermione read her book in the stands and occasionally looked up to show her support.

However no-one noticed Draco sitting in the shadows of the Slytherin stands, plotting what he could do to Weasley in the last match of the year. Of course, he was also picking up some tactical information for the match, but that was just an added bonus. His main focus was on the redhead in front of goal, and after an hour he slipped away with a plan already forming in his head.


	37. Chapter 37

During her head's meeting with Terry, Hermione was eager to bring up her idea for the end of term, but she knew she had to be patient. Before she could even think about discussing her plans for the end of term, they needed to deal with every day duties. Once the prefect rotas were done and they'd dealt with a few other pieces of business, Terry got up to leave.

"Terry, do you have a few minutes so we can talk?" Hermione asked. "I've got a few ideas I want to run past you."

"Sure, I've got nothing special to do," Terry replied as he sank back into his seat. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Graduation," Hermione said. "I was thinking we could do something unique to celebrate our years at Hogwarts. I don't know about you, but these last seven years have been pretty special for me."

"I know what you mean," Terry nodded in agreement. "Attending Hogwarts is pretty special."

"Exactly, and I thought we should celebrate that," Hermione said.

"Do you have anything in mind?"

"Actually, I do," Hermione replied with a smile. "I was thinking we could gather memories from the seventh years and put them together as some sort of compilation that we'll show to everyone. I also thought that part of the memories could be a tribute to the Professors."

"I like that," Terry replied, nodding thoughtfully. "But do memories work like that? I don't know a lot about viewing memories, but I thought it had be done in a pensieve."

"I've actually being doing some research and there's a spell that will project memories onto a screen so that lots of people can view them at once," Hermione explained. "Of course it's a complex spell and we'll need someone like Dumbledore to perform it. And we'll also need help assembling the memories. I've also looked into that and it's possible to string memories together so they're viewed in whatever order you want."

"We're going to need some help before we can even think about implementing this," Terry mused. "Do you think we should go and see Dumbledore?"

"I think we should, but before that why don't we get our plans together," Hermione suggested. "Dumbledore might be more willing to help if we know exactly what we want to do."

"Good idea," Terry said as he jumped up and grabbed some parchment and a quill. "Now, let's get planning."

Hermione inwardly smirked as Terry jumped all over her idea for the end of term. For the next half hour they brainstormed about their plans for the graduation celebration. By the time they were ready to go and speak to Dumbledore, the head students had a solid plan and were hopeful the headmaster would give them the green light to surge forward with their plans.

Terry was so thrilled with the idea of the graduation celebration that he insisted they went to speak to Dumbledore the second they were finished planning. Gathering up their notes the pair left the head offices and headed up to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore was surprised to see the two head students when they knocked on his office door, but he ushered them inside and offered them a seat.

"What can I do for the pair of you?" He asked as he took his seat behind his desk.

"We want to discuss an idea we've had for graduation," Terry said, jumping in before Hermione had a chance to speak.

Considering what she was planning on doing with the memories, Hermione was more than happy to let Terry take the lead with Dumbledore. Of course after all the drama at graduation Terry would undoubtedly make sure everyone knew the idea was all Hermione's, but by that time it wouldn't matter in the slightest as the damage would have been done.

"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea," Dumbledore said enthusiastically, beaming at the two head students after Terry had finished explaining everything with just a bit of input from Hermione.

"We will need some help of course," Hermione said.

"Naturally," Dumbledore said with a nod. "I can perform the spell that will project the memories for everyone to see, but you will need help weaving the memories together. I'm afraid between being headmaster and being so involved with the Order, I don't have the time to do it myself. However, I happen to know a man who's very good at this sort of thing. I'm sure Professor Snape will be more than happy to assist you."

Terry looked aghast at the thought of the Potions Professor being the one to help them, but Hermione was thrilled. It would be so much easier to carry out her plans with Severus being involved in the creating of the memories in the first place.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll make the announcement to the whole school," Dumbledore said. "We can arrange for memories to be deposited in the head offices and with Professor Snape's help, the pair of you can start sorting out the ones you want to use. Although you will have to ensure you include memories from all the students."

"What happens if all the students don't give us memories, or the memories they give us aren't appropriate to use?" Terry asked. He was thinking of the Slytherins, and whether or not they would even want to participate.

"I'll ensure that all students donate at least one usable memory," Dumbledore vowed.

"Thank you Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said as she and Terry stood up to leave the headmaster's office. "We appreciate you allowing us to do this."

"I appreciate two students showing such initiative," Dumbledore replied. "It's nice to see how much attending Hogwarts means to people."

"That's the whole idea," Terry grinned. "We're going to celebrate what Hogwarts means to all of us, and how privileged we are to have attended such a great school."

Hermione had to fight not to roll her eyes at Terry's sucking up, but she managed to keep her composure as they said goodbye to Dumbledore and exited his office. Once the two head students had left the headmaster, they said their goodbyes and headed in different directions. Since it was nearly dinner time, Hermione decided to eat dinner with Harry and Ron before seeing if she could sneak away for a few hours with Draco.

Hermione briefly stopped by Gryffindor Tower, where she picked up Harry and Ron and the trio headed down to the Great Hall. Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Draco and his Slytherin friends emerged from the dungeons. Hermione managed to catch Draco's eye and subtly let him know she would try and get away, while Harry and Ron both stopped to glare at Blaise and Theo. Neither boy had forgiven the Slytherins for sleeping with Ginny, or making the entire mess public knowledge a few days previously.

"Can you believe those two are as thick as thieves again?" Ron muttered as they headed into the Great Hall behind the Slytherins trio. "You wouldn't think it was only Friday they were arguing over Ginny."

"The trouble was, I don't think either of them were serious about her," Harry remarked as they settled down at the Gryffindor table. "Everyone knows Zabini has multiple girls on the go at the same time, and Nott isn't exactly going to get serious with someone his family would disapprove of. I think he was just being territorial and was annoyed that Zabini stepped on his toes."

"And none of that wouldn't have happened if my little sister wasn't such a tart," Ron snarled. "I still can't believe what she's been up to."

"Does your mother know what's going on?" Hermione asked. She knew Ron hadn't wrote to Molly as he didn't want to worry her with everything she had to deal with, but she knew there was a possibility McGonagall had informed Molly what was going on with her daughter.

"I don't know," Ron shrugged. "I haven't told her, but McGonagall might have. And even if she hasn't, the whole school witnessed the incident, she'll hear about it sooner or later."

"If that's the case, maybe you should be the one to tell her," Harry suggested. "Molly doesn't deserve to hear about this through mindless gossip."

"True," Ron nodded thoughtfully. "I'll write to her tonight to make sure she's aware of what's going on."

As Harry and Ron changed the subject to quidditch and the problems they were having with Ginny's removal from the team, Hermione inwardly smirked at Molly receiving a letter from Ron filling her in on her daughter's behaviour. Targeting Molly and Arthur's children had always been about hurting them, and she knew Molly would be devastated by her daughter's promiscuous behaviour. Molly was rather old fashioned by nature and Hermione doubted she would approve of Ginny sleeping with anyone when she was still so young, let alone two Slytherins at the same time. Part of Hermione hoped that Molly completely lost it with Ginny and sent her daughter a howler, while another part recognised that it wasn't something likely to happen. She doubted Molly would want to create any more public drama surrounding her wayward daughter.

For the rest of dinner, Hermione half-heartedly listened to Harry and Ron, but they didn't speak about anything other than quidditch. Once the meal was over, the trio got up and exited the hall but as the boys were still talking quidditch, Hermione used the opportunity to slip away for a bit.

"I'm just going to do a bit of studying in the library," she told the pair as they walked up the main stairs. "I'll only be a couple of hours. I'll see you back in Gryffindor Tower in a bit."

Harry and Ron both nodded and said goodbye to Hermione. After suffering through a kiss from Ron, Hermione watched the boys depart before she turned and headed in the direction of the library. When they'd left the Great Hall a few moments ago, Draco and his friends had still been sitting at the Slytherin table and she wanted to give her boyfriend time to get down to their secret room before she arrived.

Hermione spent half an hour in the library, before sneaking off and heading down to the dungeons. Normally when Hermione ventured down to the dungeons she managed to avoid everyone, but this time she'd only just entered the dungeons when she came face to face with the Potions Professor.

"Ah, just the person I wanted to see," Severus said. "Just pop into my office, I want a word."

Hermione followed Severus into his office, knowing that if anyone saw them they would just assume they were discussing something to do with school, although what Severus wanted to talk to her about was a mystery.

"Dumbledore has just told me about the idea you and the Head Boy have come up with," Severus said as he offered Hermione a seat in front of his desk and pulled up a chair beside her. "Although I'm assuming the idea is actually yours."

"It is," Hermione confirmed. "This is how we're going to expose Dumbledore."

"Is it something you're going to need my help with?" Severus asked. "Dumbledore asked me to help you with the memories since what you're hoping to do is quite tricky and will need an expert touch."

"I am definitely going to need your expertise," Hermione told the Potions master. "What I was thinking was creating two sets of memories that are identical except for the last few minutes. We plan on ending the memories with a tribute to Dumbledore, and that's where I plan on exposing him and showing everyone the memories you and Lucius procured from Sirius."

"Why do we need two sets?" Severus questioned.

"There's no way Dumbledore will allow us to show the memories without first checking them over," Hermione replied. "We need to create a copy with a genuine tribute to show him. Once Dumbledore has then seen the copy, we switch it with the real version with Sirius's memories included."

"You know we're both going to come under suspicion, don't you?" Severus checked. "The second those memories are shown, Dumbledore is going to know we were behind it."

"Not necessarily," Hermione smirked. "If Dumbledore doesn't suggest it himself, I'm going to suggest he keeps the memories safe until graduation. Once he's seen the fake copy, we pull a fast one and leave him with the memories we want shown. As far as he and everyone else is concerned, he's had the vial of memories for however long before graduation. Whoever has tampered with them, has done so after we handed them over."

Severus looked at young girl in front of him in awe. From the second she'd started school, he'd known Hermione was exceptionally clever, but he'd never realised just how devious she could be or how well she could read people. Because of the situation she was in, she had the advantage of knowing her enemies well enough to be able to predict what they would do and how they would react to certain situations. That gave her plans an extra edge and he had every confidence that her overall plans would succeed and she would bring Dumbledore and the Order down.

"What do you think?" Hermione questioned when Severus remained silent. "Can it work?"

"It's a hell of a lot of work, but it can succeed," Severus said with a brisk nod. "I'm warning you now, it's going to be time consuming to create two copies of the memories. And there will be an element of risk involved in switching the memories we give Dumbledore. One wrong move, and we'll be caught red handed."

"Then we best not make any wrong moves," Hermione grinned. "If things go according to plan, we can pull this off without arousing suspicion. I'm going to play innocent and act as though I'm just finding all this out for the first time."

"And what happens, when I'm accused of tampering with the memories?" Severus asked. "Only a handful of people in the school could string together memories like we plan on doing, and since I'm going to be helping you, I'll be prime suspect. Especially in certain people's eyes."

"We've already established that we're going to make the switch before Dumbledore even locks the memories away in his office. He's going to be convinced he had the copy we showed him, so it will be assumed the switch was made after that. Once we hand the memories over to Dumbledore, try to avoid being in his office. That way no-one can prove you had the opportunity to change the ending of the tribute."

"You've thought of everything," Severus chuckled, impressed with the feisty brunette witch in front of him.

"I try," Hermione replied as she stood up. "Unless you want anything else, I'll be going now. I've got someone I want to see."

"Say hello to Draco from me," Severus said with a smirk.

Hermione chuckled in response as she exited the Potions Professor's office. Checking no-one had seen her, Hermione slipped into the shadows and made her way to the secret room. Once there she spent an hour with Draco, before reluctantly leaving her boyfriend's arms and heading back up to Gryffindor Tower to play the part of Hermione Granger, best friend and loving girlfriend. Luckily it was only for a few more months, then she could stop pretending and embrace her true identity as Athena Riddle.


	38. Chapter 38

On Monday morning over breakfast, Dumbledore made the announcement about the tribute the head students were organising. He explained about the idea and urged all the seventh years to participate. He then announced that every break time and lunch time there would be a member of staff in the heads office to assist with the handing over of memories.

The idea quickly took hold of the seventh years and the idea was met with praise all around. Even the Slytherins seemed keen on the idea, much the surprise of the rest of the school. However, Hermione suspected the Slytherins planned on donating memories that would embarrass other students and members of staff. Who knows how Dumbledore was going to regulate the memories and ensure they gave useable ones, but that wasn't her problem.

All day Hermione had people coming up to her asking about the tribute. She happily answered their questions and gave them all the information they wanted, but when it came to discussing who thought of the idea she was less than forthcoming. Luckily Terry was more than happy to take the majority of the credit as the brains behind the idea.

When running the idea past Dumbledore, Hermione and Terry had agreed to spend a couple of hours each night viewing the day's memories and making plans, so after the last lesson of the day Hermione quickly changed before joining the Head Boy in the heads office. Severus was also present with a pensieve, and he set up a smaller version of the spell Dumbledore would use at graduation so they could view the memories on one of the walls of the office.

"How do you want to do this?" Severus asked the two head students. While he was prepared to help the pair, he wasn't doing more than was necessary, even if he did like Hermione and knew her reasons behind the idea.

"How about we view each memory and decide if it's suitable," Hermione suggested. "Once we've got a pile of memories we can then sort them into some sort of order."

"Do we know who submitted each memory, or do we have to guess?" Terry questioned.

"The staff have been recording who contributed what," Severus explained as he began to sort the vials of memories that had been collected over the course of the day.

One by one Severus played the memories and Hermione and Terry made a decision about if they were suitable or not. As Hermione suspected the few Slytherins that had left memories so far had chosen incidents that would embarrass other people, Gryffindors in particular. Blaise had contributed a memory from second year when Ron had mispronounced a spell in charms and had blasted himself off his seat and slammed into the wall. Theo meanwhile had deposited a memory of the first quidditch match of the year where Harry had been chased by an enchanted bludger.

Shortly before dinner they'd managed to view all of the memories and had sheets of notes. There was a handful of memories that they'd deemed unsuitable, but the vast majority were stored for future consideration. The second the memories were finished, Severus gathered up the vials and pensive and swept out of the office, leaving the two head students to have a final chat before dinner.

"How are things going?" Harry asked when Hermione arrived for dinner in the Great Hall.

"Good. We've already got some good stuff." Hermione replied.

"Are you finished for the day?" Ron questioned.

"Yeah, we managed to get everything looked at," Hermione said. "But if we get more memories on other days, it might mean going back after dinner."

"You can worry about that later, right now you should be pleased you're finished for the day," Harry said.

"I am," Hermione answered. "I'm looking forward to having a nice relaxing night. Between the graduation presentation and exams, I'm not going to have much free time from now on."

"I hope you'll still have some time for us," Ron pouted, clearly not happy with the idea of barely seeing Hermione over the coming weeks.

"Of course I'll have time for you," Hermione smiled, playing the part of a loving girlfriend with ease. She actually found it quite easy to pretend with Ron as long as they weren't kissing. Kissing was when the problems really set in as her body and mind screamed at her that she was betraying Draco.

"Good," Ron smiled, happy to be reassured that he would still see Hermione on a regular basis.

Swiftly changing topic, Hermione asked the boys what they'd been up to before Ron tried indulging in a display of public affection. Luckily her tactic worked and for the rest of the meal Harry and Ron filled Hermione in on their attempts at tackling the latest Transfiguration homework. Knowing that as a good friend she should offer to help, Hermione told the boys she would help them after dinner. She would much rather leave them to struggle on by themselves, but she'd always helped them in the past and she didn't want to change her behaviour at this late stage in her plan. She had to keep them onside for a few more weeks before she could walk away and not have anything to do with them again.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

As the week continued the memories kept pouring in and Hermione was spending more of her evenings in the heads office with Terry. The pair were making good progress and Hermione was confident that they would end up with a decent tribute to the school and its staff. By Friday they had a usable memory from almost all of the students and they were beginning to make plans on how to string the memories together.

Friday's sorting was finished early as Terry had plans with his friends, but Hermione claimed she would stay behind and do some more work. What she really did was wait for Terry to leave, before sneaking off down to the dungeons to spend a couple of hours with Draco. With everything that was going on, Hermione felt as though she was neglecting her boyfriend and was eager to make it up to him.

Draco was more than happy with the way Hermione made things up to him, and the pair stumbled into bed almost as soon as they entered the room. In fact they'd been in their room for nearly an hour before they took the time to say a proper hello and to talk to one another.

"How are things running with your plan?" Draco asked his girlfriend.

"Perfectly," Hermione smiled. "And how are things coming with you? Have you decided what you're going to do to Ron at the quidditch match yet?"

"I know exactly what I'm going to do with him," Draco smirked.

"And how are things going with Lucius?" Hermione questioned. The Death Eater attacks were still ongoing and were causing serious worry amongst the Order and the rest of the wizarding world.

"According to his letters everything is fine," Draco answered. "Don't worry, I'd let you know if we had any problems."

"I know," Hermione nodded. "I'm just wondering what we're going to do after this is all over. Now the Death Eaters are active again, will they expect things to carry on the way they have been? Will they expect me to lead them?"

"Is that what you want?" Draco asked, studying his girlfriend closely. He knew she didn't believe in any sort of pureblood supremacy, but he wasn't sure if the lure of power would convince her to take charge of the Death Eaters.

Hermione was silent for a long time as she thought about Draco's question. Because of how she'd been brought up and the prejudice she'd faced in some quarters upon entering the wizarding world, she didn't buy into any pure blood supremacy nonsense. As such she couldn't really see any need to fight and control the Death Eaters. Of course she wouldn't hesitate to use them to fight against the Order if they turned on her, but hopefully that wouldn't be an issue.

"No," she said finally. "I don't think it is something I want. I want vengeance on the people who killed my parents and lied to me for years, but I don't want to fight a war. After this, I want to build a life with you and be happy."

"That's what I want as well," Draco said with a smile. "Sometimes with everything that's happened these last few months, it's easy to forget this all came about because we just wanted to be together in the open. A year ago we were discussing telling my parents so we could be together without having to hide, and here we are still hiding."

"I'm sorry." Hermione gently brushed her lips over Draco's as she edged closer to her boyfriend. "I didn't mean to drag you into all this revenge business."

"I don't regret any of this at all," Draco reassured his girlfriend. "I completely understand why you had to get retribution for your parents. In your shoes, I would have wanted the same thing."

"But if I hadn't set about destroying Dumbledore and the Order, we could have been together," Hermione replied with a sigh. She didn't regret her quest for vengeance, but she did regret it meant having to keep her relationship with Draco quiet for yet another year.

"We are together," Draco pointed out, wrapping his arm around Hermione and pulling her naked body up against his. "From where I'm lying, we're very together."

"You know what I mean," Hermione chuckled. "If it wasn't for this plan, everyone would know about us."

"Everyone will know about us in a few months," Draco argued. "Once we leave school there'll be no more hiding. We can be together in public and no-one can ruin that."

"I hope so." Hermione leaned her head against Draco's chest as he ran his fingers through her curls. "I don't want more trouble once this is all over."

"We won't have any," Draco vowed. "After Dumbledore is gone, we can forget all about the Order and concentrate on us. We could even take a holiday."

"I like that idea," Hermione grinned. "I can just picture it now, the pair of us lying on a deserted beach soaking up the sun."

"Is that all we would be doing?" Draco asked as his hands began to wander over his girlfriend's naked skin.

"I guess it depends on where we were," Hermione replied with a small whimper as Draco's hands closed over her breasts. "If we were somewhere private, I'm guessing there would be no clothes involved in our sunbathing."

"That settled it, when we leave here I'm whisking you away somewhere private," Draco declared. "I want to see you naked and sprawled out underneath the blazing hot sun."

"And what would you do if that did happen?" Hermione asked with a seductive grin.

"Let me demonstrate," Draco grinned, before swooping down and locking lips with Hermione.

Much to Hermione's pleasure, Draco proceeded to show her exactly how he would ravish her underneath the warm summer sun. When they were finished the couple reluctantly dressed as it was time they went their separate ways for the night. However, Hermione was eager for them to meet up again over the weekend as they'd been neglecting their wand connection in the last week or so. These days they were pretty good with synchronising their magic, but she wanted to be sure it was perfected before the end of term and the showdown at graduation just in case they needed to use it when the truth was revealed.


	39. Chapter 39

Draco awoke bright and early on the morning of the quidditch match against Gryffindor. Leaving his friends to sleep a bit longer, he quietly got out of bed, got dressed and exited the dorms. Passing through the common room, he headed out of the dungeons and out of the castle completely. Draco made his way to the quidditch pitch and took a seat in the stands as he took a few moments to think about the game ahead and his tactics.

After a few minutes Draco's thoughts drifted away from the upcoming game and turned to his plan for humiliating Weasley. As much as he'd loved enchanting the bludger to go after Potter earlier in the year, he was eager to turn his attentions to the redhead. Not only did Weasley bug him more than Potter, but there was the fact the ginger wizard constantly had his hands all over Hermione. Out of everything his girlfriend had done and was planning on doing to get revenge for her parent's deaths, fake dating Weasley was definitely what Draco had the most problems with. Most of the time it took every ounce of his self-control not to tear the redhead off Hermione and give him a fist in the face.

The only consolation for Draco was that in the last few weeks, Hermione had been pretty busy and hadn't had a lot of time to play the fake girlfriend with Weasley. When his girlfriend wasn't working on the memories for graduation, she was studying for her upcoming exams and in her spare time she was squeezing in visits to him. As well as snatching a few intimate moments, they concentrated on strengthening their magical bond and with just over a month to graduation they were both pretty confident that their magic was strong enough to cope with anything that was thrown at it. Although if things went according to plan it wouldn't be necessary for anyone to find out about their wand bond.

Draco remained lost in thought for quite a while longer and it was nearly breakfast time when he left the quidditch pitch and made his way back to the castle. Entering the castle from the back, his approach to the Great Hall was different from usual and he used that to his advantage. Making sure no-one had seen him, he ducked into an alcove just under the main staircase and waited for the Gryffindors to come down for breakfast. Draco knew from experience that Potter insisted his team eat a good breakfast before a match, so he knew if he was patient he would see Weasley descending the stairs.

Draco's wait was a fairly short one and less than five minutes after ducking into an alcove, he heard familiar voices above him on the stairs. Pulling out his wand and peering round the corner of the alcove, Draco watched as Potter and Weasley descended the stairs and stepped into his line of vision. The second Weasley was in his sight, Draco shot a spell at the redhead that hit him squarely in the back, causing him to stumble forward a few paces.

"Ron, are you okay?" Harry asked in concern.

"I'm fine," Ron replied, shaking his head to clear it. "I just lost my footing."

From the alcove Draco watched as the pair brushed off the incident and headed into the Great Hall. Once he was sure the duo were safely inside he snuck out from his hiding place and casually strolled into the Great Hall. Not even bothering to look in the direction of the Gryffindor table, he made his way over to the Slytherin table where his friends were already sitting eating their breakfasts.

"Where were you this morning?" Theo asked. "You were gone when we woke up."

"I went for a walk," Draco replied as he grabbed some toast and spread a thin layer of blackcurrant jam on it. "I was just running over tactics for the game in my head."

"We thought you might be up to some sort of sabotage," Blaise whispered to his friend. Apart from one conversation Draco's plan to target Weasley had never been mentioned again, but he doubted his friend would have forgotten such a thing.

"As if I would do such a thing," Draco replied with mock innocence, although his wicked smirk told a different story.

"Will you be sharing details with us?" Theo asked.

"Not now," Draco answered. "For now, I just want you to concentrate on the game. And remember what I said at training, no matter what you keep playing and ignore anything else that might be going on around you."

"Yes boss," Theo replied seriously.

Draco rolled his eyes at his friend, but his attention was soon diverted by Hermione entering the Great Hall. His girlfriend didn't look his way, which was to be expected, but Draco couldn't help but watch her with narrowed eyes. Since it was a match day she was wearing a Gryffindor scarf, and even though they were her house colours, he hated to see her in them. He wanted nothing more than to walk over to her, yank her Gryffindor scarf off and drape a Slytherin one around her neck. He would love it if just once his girlfriend could openly support him in a match, but he knew it was never going to happen.

"Have you got a plan for Granger yet?" Theo asked, noticing where his friend's attention was.

"I'm working on it," Draco replied.

"Maybe you could find a way to mess with her precious memory project," Blaise suggested. "You could make her look a fool in front of everyone."

"I don't see how I can pull that one off," Draco said. "Only the head students and Professors have access to the memories."

"Can't you get Snape to help?" Blaise asked. "You are his favourite student after all."

"I may be his favourite student, but he isn't going to involve himself in a student prank," Draco pointed out. "I'll think of something, don't you worry."

"I hope you do," Theo remarked, glaring over at the Gryffindor table. "She's not as bad as Potter and Weasley, but she's still bloody annoying. I don't think I've ever met a bossier witch."

"I don't know, Pansy could give her a run for her money," Blaise mused. "She can't half boss people around."

Theo conceded Blaise had a point, but he was still adamant that Hermione was bossier than their friend. Ignoring the debate between his two best friends, Draco returned his attention back to his breakfast. As he ate he thought about the spell he'd shot at Weasley and he hoped he'd done it right. If he'd performed it correctly the spell would kick in about five minutes after Weasley took off on his broom. From there on in the redhead should lose his sense of balance and would constantly be struggling to remain upright on his broom.

Knowing all he could do was hope he'd cast the spell correctly, Draco finished his breakfast before getting ready to leave. Making sure the rest of the team knew not to dawdle over breakfast, he exited the Great Hall and once again made his way down to the quidditch pitch. This time he didn't enter the stadium, he headed directly for the dressing rooms behind the ground and headed into the Slytherin changing rooms.

Within half an hour the rest of the team arrived and Draco spent the next forty minutes giving a team talk. Apart from Theo and Blaise, no-one else on the team knew of his plans to have a bit of fun with Weasley, so he had to carry on as though it was a normal game. Although even with the spell he'd cast on the redhead, he had no idea how much it would affect the game. Potter wouldn't call the game off when he was being chased by a rogue bludger, although it might be a different prospect to have a keeper who's unable to remain upright on his broom and defend the goals.

With the team talk completed, Draco and the rest of the Slytherins got changed for the match. Giving his team a final few words of advice, Draco led them out of the changing rooms and to the side of the pitch where Madam Hooch was waiting for them. Seconds after they arrived, the Gryffindors emerged from their changing rooms and lined up beside the Slytherins.

"I want a good, clean game today," Madam Hooch warned the two rival teams. "For the majority of you, this will be your last game at Hogwarts. Don't ruin it by cheating or playing dirty."

The two teams nodded in response as Madam Hooch, mounted her broom and swept off into the stadium. Draco turned and gave Harry a smug smirk, before the Slytherins took off into the stadium to rapturous applause from the rest of their house. When the Gryffindors emerged a few seconds later, they got a thunderous applause from not only their house but Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as well. After seven years Draco was used to all the other house supporting their opposition, so it barely registered with him that Gryffindor had more support than Slytherin. Being hated was a way of life if you were a Slytherin and he didn't see the point in complaining about something that had been going on before he started Hogwarts and something that would carry on long after he'd left as well.

As the teams took their positions, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and released the balls. Knowing nothing would happen to Weasley for a while yet, Draco set about scanning for the small golden snitch. He also kept a close eye on Potter in case his rival seeker spotted the snitch. The last thing he wanted was to lose the game before his spell kicked in and Weasley was humiliated.

Luckily for Draco, there was no initial sign of the snitch and neither seeker had even caught a fleeting glimpse of the tiny ball when a loud gasp sounded around the stadium. Draco instinctively turned towards the Gryffindor goal and found Weasley clinging onto his broom for dear life. Beside him, Potter let out a quiet curse before zooming over to where his best friend was trying to remount his broom.

"Keep playing," Draco barked out to his team, noticing a few of them had stopped to watch the drama with the opposition keeper.

Instantly the Slytherins shot into action and they managed to score two goals before Weasley sat himself upright on his broom. No sooner had he settled back upright than his balance went again and his broom turned him upside down. As the redheaded keeper hung upside down on his broom, Draco let out a bark of laughter.

"This is you, isn't it?" Harry demanded, flying up beside Draco. "You've cursed Ron's broom."

"I haven't been anywhere near Weasley's broom," Draco replied honestly. "Now if you excuse me, I've got a snitch to find."

Still laughing, Draco soared away from the opposition captain, who seemed torn between following him and searching for the snitch or going to try and help his goalkeeper. Eventually he settled for heading over to the goal and trying to get Ron back on his broom. Keeping one eye out for the snitch, Draco watched the debacle in front of the Gryffindor goal and he was pleased to see his team taking advantage of Weasley's predicament. In less than five minutes his team had scored half a dozen goals.

"Harry, this is impossible," Dean called to his captain as yet another goal soared past a struggling Ron. Even though Dean was only playing due to Ginny's exclusion from the team he'd been around the team as a reserve player for long enough that he didn't mind voicing his opinion to Harry. "We can't play without a keeper."

"He's right," Harry said to Ron. "Can you continue Ron?"

"Of course I can," Ron huffed as he righted himself for the third time in as many minutes.

Shakily Ron began to move, but the second he did so he overbalanced and fell off his broom yet again. Clinging onto the broom by his fingertips, he tried to swing his leg back over the broom with little success.

"Having problems?" Draco called as he swopped past the Gryffindors.

"Bugger off Malfoy," Harry snarled at the gloating blond.

Laughing at the Gryffindors, Draco flew away from the chaos and concentrated on the game. For a while the Gryffindors struggled on by having one of their chasers try and defend the goal. However it soon became clear that with Weasley struggling so much, they were no match for the Slytherins. The Slytherins were scoring goals in alarming frequency and it soon got to the point where even Harry catching the snitch wouldn't guarantee a win for Gryffindor. Even though he was looking for the snitch, Draco kept an eye on the Gryffindors and he noticed Potter sadly nodding his head at his team before he flagged down Madam Hooch.

Seconds after being approached by the Gryffindor captain, Madam Hooch blew her whistle to end the game. "Gryffindor forfeit the game, Slytherin wins," she announced loudly.

Draco and his team let out cheers of joy and they set off on a victory lap of the pitch as the Gryffindors worked together to get Weasley safely back to the ground. From the air, Draco watched the Gryffindors gathered on the pitch. Within minutes of the team landing, Dumbledore and McGonagall were with them as were Ginny, Hermione and the other seventh years that hadn't been playing.

With a nod to his team, Draco led the way back to the ground. Landing next to the Gryffindors, the Slytherins disembarked from their brooms wearing smug grins.

"This is all you," Ron yelled, storming towards the Slytherins. "You bloody well sabotaged my broom."

"We did nothing of the sort," Blaise said, looking suitable affronted.

"Don't go around accusing us without proof," Draco warned menacingly.

"We'll find proof," Ron snarled.

"Yeah," Harry added, coming up beside his friend. "Dumbledore's inspecting Ron's broom right now. We'll soon find out what you did to it."

"In that case, we'll stick around," Draco smirked. "It'll be interesting to see your faces when you discover we had nothing to do with Weasley's pathetic display. It's not our fault he's too inept to stay upright on his broom."

Ron snarled at the blond Slytherin, but just as he was about to advance on his rival, Hermione put a hand on his arm and urged him to back off. Throwing another hateful glare at the Slytherins, Ron allowed Hermione to lead him away from the laughing Slytherins.

Five minutes later, Dumbledore announced he'd examined Ron's broom and could find nothing wrong with it.

"There has to be," Ron insisted. "You saw me up there, I couldn't stay upright."

"I admit it was odd, but the broom is fine," Dumbledore replied. "We can try it if you want."

Ron insisted they tried the broom, so Harry jumped on and flew off around the quidditch stadium. As everyone was watching Harry, Draco silently ended the spell he'd cast on Weasley. Luckily a simple 'Finite Incantatem' ended the spell and he didn't need his wand to cast it.

"I want to try," Ron said as Harry returned with the broom. "Maybe if the broom isn't cursed, I am."

"A likely excuse," Theo scoffed. "More like you're just pathetic and can't fly."

Ron glared at Theo, before mounting his broom and soaring off into the sky. After a couple of laps around the pitch he returned to the group with a frown upon his face.

"I don't suppose we'll be getting an apology for your rash accusations," Draco said.

"Shove it Malfoy," Ron snarled.

"I thought not," Draco shrugged. "Now since we've established we haven't done anything wrong, we'll be off to get changed. We've got a celebration to attend, after all it's not every day you win the quidditch cup."

With an evil cackle, Draco led his teammates back to the dressing rooms. After quickly changing they all headed down to the dungeons were an all-night party had been arranged to celebrate their success. Over the course of the party, Draco filled an impressed Blaise and Theo in on what exactly he'd done to the Gryffindor keeper. Of course neither Blaise nor Theo could resist bragging about Draco's exploits and by the end of the evening all the Slytherins knew it was Draco who was responsible for Weasley's terrible display, as well as the enchanted bludger Potter had to face earlier in the year. However Draco wasn't worried about word of his exploits spreading outside of the dungeons, Slytherins were fiercely loyal to one another and none of them would dream of gossiping outside the confines of their common and dorm rooms. Especially not about the boy they all considered to be their top dog and leader.


	40. Chapter 40

Hermione watched the Gryffindor versus Slytherin quidditch match with Ginny at her side. In the weeks since Ginny's promiscuous nature had been exposed to everyone, Hermione had acted as she would have before she knew the truth about her past. That meant she tried to play peacemaker between Ginny and her brother and didn't discard Ginny to one side. Of course she made sure Ginny knew that she didn't condone her behaviour, but she didn't stop being her friend.

Since Hermione didn't know what her boyfriend had in store she had no idea how the match would go, and for a while she worried that she would have to sit through a whole match with Ginny complaining about being kicked off the team. Luckily the match had only been going for five minutes or so when there was an almighty gasp around the stadium as Ron slipped from his broom. From beside Hermione, Ginny instantly shut up and gripped onto Hermione's arm as she looked at her brother dangling from his broom.

"What's he playing at?" Seamus questioned from beside the girls.

"I don't think he meant to fall off his broom," Hermione replied. "I'm sure he just lost his balance for a second."

"He better regain it quick, or else Slytherin will take advantage of it," Seamus replied, groaning as he'd no sooner finished speaking when the quaffle went sailing through the Gryffindor goal.

Not at all bothered about the state of the game, Hermione and Ginny anxiously watched as Ron managed to haul himself back onto his broom. The two witches shared a relieved smile, but their joy was short lived as Ron was no sooner settled on his broom than he lost his balance again and was hanging upside down.

"I can't watch this," Ginny cried, burying her head in her hands so she didn't have to witness her brother fall if he lost his grip. With both Bill and Charlie already recovering from serious accidents, she didn't want the same thing to happen to Ron.

While Ginny buried her head in her hands, Hermione was unable to tear her eyes away from what was happening in the match. By the way Draco was hovering around the Gryffindors and gloating she figured whatever was happening with Ron was down to him. She just hoped he'd been smart enough to cover his tracks as once the game was over the finger of suspicion would undoubtedly fall on the Slytherins, her boyfriend in particular.

Making sure she kept a suitably concerned look on her face, Hermione watched what was happening while keeping Ginny informed about how her brother was doing. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your point of view, Ron never actually lost his grip and fell from the sky. However it soon became clear that whatever was inflicting him was making it impossible to stay upright and defend the goal.

Despite Ron's inability to perform his role in the team, Hermione was still surprised when Harry signalled to Madam Hooch they were forfeiting the game. She'd expected them to struggle on until the end of the game, but clearly Harry was worried that Ron was going to fall and injure himself before someone managed to catch the snitch.

"Have we just forfeited the game?" Ginny asked as she looked up upon hearing Madam Hooch blow her whistle and announce Slytherin were the winners.

"Yeah, I guess Harry wanted to put Ron's safety first," Hermione replied as the girls stood up to leave.

"As pleased as I am about that, he might face some opposition from other members of the house," Ginny remarked as they began making their way down to the ground with Neville and Seamus following along behind them. "I don't think everyone is going to like this."

"Tough," Seamus snorted. "Ron could have been seriously hurt. That's more important than some stupid game of quidditch."

"Quite right," Hermione nodded in agreement.

Arriving down on the pitch, the group rushed over to the Gryffindor team. Unsure of the response she would get from Harry and Ron, Ginny stayed further back as Hermione hugged her two best friends.

"I'm so pleased you're okay," Hermione said to Ron, vaguely aware that Draco and the Slytherins were coming in to land beside them. "We were so worried."

"We?" Ron frowned in confusion.

"Ginny was worried as well," Hermione said. "She was terrified something was going to happen to you. She couldn't even look."

Ron turned to look at his sister, who gave him a timid smile. Ron briefly smiled back before he got his eyes on the Slytherin team. Forgetting all about his sister and her concern, he went storming over to Draco and started accusing the blond Slytherin of sabotage.

Hermione watched for a few minutes, before she went and played the concerned girlfriend. Dragging Ron away from the Slytherins, she watched with interest as Dumbledore announced Ron's broom hadn't been tampered with. Of course Ron wasn't having any of that and he insisted that there was something dodgy going on. Even when both he and Harry tried the broom, he was still convinced that there was something untoward going on and that the Slytherins were responsible.

"Is that it?" Ron demanded of Dumbledore as the Slytherins turned and headed off to the changing rooms.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing more I can do," Dumbledore replied regretfully. "We can examine your broom further, but there's nothing untoward about it. It has not been tampered with."

"But they must have done something," Ron complained. "I just couldn't stay upright, and because of that we lost the game. Can we not have a rematch?"

"I'm afraid not." McGonagall shook her head sternly. "Your team forfeited the match, therefore Slytherin are the rightful winners."

"You should have carried on playing," Ron said to Harry. "We shouldn't have given up."

"I wasn't going to risk your safety," Harry said, standing firmly by his decision. "If a bludger, or even a quaffle, had hit you then you might have lost your grip and fallen to the ground. Besides Slytherins were scoring at will, even if I'd caught the snitch we might not have won."

"I guess," Ron sighed. "I just don't like handing the match to Slytherin."

"Nor do I," Harry said, patting his best friend on the shoulder. "But I made the right call to end the match, and if anyone doesn't like it, tough. I've already lost my father and godfather this year, I'm not going to risk my best friend as well."

At the mention of James, an air of sadness swept over the Professors and students on the quidditch pitch. Harry rarely mentioned his father as he tried to deal with his grief privately, but everyone was aware of how much he was suffering. The fact Sirius wasn't around made the matter even worse and Hermione and Ron both knew their friend was worried about Lily and how she was coping all alone.

"I'll double check the broom, but for now I suggest you all go back to Gryffindor Tower," Dumbledore said.

Arranging to meet the boys up in the tower, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Seamus left the quidditch pitch and headed into the castle. Once back in the tower they all settled down beside the fire, although Ginny did curl up on a chair that was slightly further away from the group. After nearly fifteen minutes the Quidditch team arrived back at the tower and Harry, Ron and Dean joined their friends around the fire. Harry and Ron settled down on the sofa with Hermione, while Dean sat on the rug in front of the fire with Seamus and Neville.

"Was Ginny really worried about me?" Ron whispered to Hermione.

"She was terrified," Hermione replied, noticing Ron glancing in his sister's direction. "After what's happened to Charlie and Bill she was worried something was going to happen to you."

"You should go over and make peace with her," Harry advised.

"You think I should go and talk to her, after what she did?" Ron questioned his friend in surprise. "I thought you were just as mad at her."

"I don't really have a right to be mad," Harry admitted. With time to reflect he knew he'd overreacted to the whole incident with Ginny and the Slytherins. "Yes, I thought we could possibly have something together, but Ginny and I weren't together. She owed me nothing, and it had nothing to do with me who she decided to sleep with."

"But you were so hurt by her actions," Ron pointed out. "Can you ever get over what she did?"

"I think we can go back to being friends, but I don't think there'll be anything romantic developing between us," Harry said. "But that's not really the point here Ron. I'm urging you to go and talk to her. She is your sister, and you don't want to be at odds forever."

"I just don't know if I can move past what she did," Ron confessed with a sigh.

"You make it sound like she betrayed you personally," Hermione said. As much as she'd expected Ginny's antics to cause problems with her family, she hadn't expected Ron's reaction to be so severe. "Yes, she's your little sister, but at the end of the day her love life is none of your business. You know I don't agree with what she's done, but you have reacted pretty badly."

"That's because she was shagging Slytherins," Ron retorted with a hiss. "She knows better than anyone that the whole lot of them are trouble. I just don't know what she was thinking bedding two of them."

"Why don't you ask her," Hermione suggested. "Maybe if you and Ginny talked you could move on and put the past behind you."

"Hermione's right," Harry told his friend. "You and Ginny shouldn't be at each other's throats. Family is far too important to throw it away over something so trivial. Take it from someone who's lost two people they love, don't waste any time fighting. Make up with Ginny and support each other."

"But how do I begin?" Ron questioned. "I was so horrid to her, and to make matters worse I wrote to Mum and filled her in on all the gory details."

"You were just trying to save Molly the pain of hearing it second hand," Hermione said. "Besides, she already knew since McGonagall had spoken to her."

"I know, but Ginny might still be mad at me for writing to Mum," Ron argued.

"There's only one way to find out," Harry said. "Hey Ginny," he called, raising his voice enough to carry over to the redhead sitting a short distance away. "Come over here, we want to talk to you."

Ginny hesitantly got up and made her way over to the large sofa where her brother and his friends were sitting. Harry scooted along, leaving a spot for Ginny next to Ron. Ginny checked it was okay with her brother before perching in the space.

"I want to say sorry," Ron said to his sister. "I still don't like what you did, but I may have overreacted. And I'm sorry for writing to Mum to make sure she knew what you'd done."

"I don't blame you for being disgusted at me," Ginny said. "I'm ashamed of my actions, and I wish I could do things differently. I'm also not mad that you wrote to Mum, I know you just didn't want her to hear gossip about me and not know what was going on."

"I just want to forget the whole thing ever happened," Ron said. "But before we do, I want to know one thing. What on earth possessed you to jump into bed with two Slytherins?"

"I have no idea," Ginny sighed. "I first spoke to Theo before Christmas, and he seemed really nice. He wasn't at all like I expected a Slytherin to be, and I guess I let myself get charmed by him. It was never anything serious, I just thought we were having a bit of fun and when we got bored we would go our separate ways."

"So what about Zabini?" Ron asked. "Why didn't you part ways with Nott, before shagging Zabini?"

"I just didn't have a chance," Ginny answered sheepishly. "Blaise just suddenly appeared on the scene, showering me with attention. He's incredibly charming and he made me feel so special and beautiful. I never meant to actually do anything with him, but he's so charming and persuasive. Before I knew where we were, Snape was catching us in the act. I deeply regret ever getting involved with either of them, and it's a mistake that will haunt me for years to come."

"It certainly wasn't one of your finer moments," Ron remarked. "But I think we should just put it behind us now and try to forget the entire thing ever happened."

Even though Ginny agreed with her brother, Hermione doubted the pair could move on so easily. Ron was clearly still miffed by his sister's actions, and the fact she'd hurt Harry in the process didn't help matters. Ron had confessed to Hermione that he'd secretly been harbouring hopes that his best friend and sister would become a couple, and it would seem that it now wasn't going to happen. Not only had Ginny's actions shamed the family, they'd ended any chance she might have had with Harry, and Hermione suspected it would take Ron a while to get over that blow. Not to mention he'd been so angry at Ginny for hurting Harry so soon after losing James and Sirius. So while Hermione was confident the siblings would work things out and eventually everything would be fine between them, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.


	41. Chapter 41

Dumbledore sat staring absentmindedly into space, a cup of tea perched beside him on his desk. In just over half an hour the head students were due to arrive to show off their finished memory project, but Dumbledore had other more pressing things on his mind. Graduation was in just over two weeks and Dumbledore was looking forward to the end of term so he could concentrate fully on the problems that had arisen over the last few months.

For years the Death Eaters had lain dormant, but now they were back and Dumbledore was expected to handle them. If the Death Eaters had merely chosen to regroup and serve a new master, Dumbledore could have handled that a lot easier. But as it was they were fixated on Athena, and not only did he have to answer some awkward questions about the past, he was left wondering why the group were suddenly focused on a girl very few knew about and those that had known about Athena had thought she was dead. What had changed to prompt the resurgence of Lord Voldemort's army?

The only thing Dumbledore had come up with in the past few months of dwelling on the problem was Draco. Draco was clearly mentioned in the prophecy about Athena, and Dumbledore could only think that something had happened over the previous summer to alert Lucius to the fact Athena was still alive. Maybe the fact that Draco had turned seventeen just before the end of the last school year was a factor in whatever had happened. Maybe once Draco became an adult in the wizarding world, something had changed and his connection to Athena was revealed to Lucius. However, that was all speculation and Dumbledore had no solid proof of what had alerted the Death Eaters to the fact Athena was indeed alive.

In fact in all of the mess these last few months, the only thing Dumbledore had been grateful for was the Death Eaters lack of knowledge regarding Athena. While they seemed to know she was still alive and they weren't buying anything he said regarding her supposed death, they had no idea who they were actually searching for. Luckily the Death Eaters had no idea that they were looking for Hermione Granger, and that she was right under their noses at Hogwarts.

Since Hermione had entered Hogwarts, Dumbledore had kept a close eye on the young witch, but he'd never been seriously worried about who her father was until these last few months. Even though he knew it was impossible for Hermione to know the truth, he'd been watching her more carefully than normal once the Death Eaters had made their presence known again. Fortunately she was oblivious to her dark heritage, and over the course of the year had become even deeper embroiled with the light side as her romance with Ron blossomed.

Dumbledore had to admit to himself that he'd been truly worried when James had been killed. Not only was James killed the exact same way as Voldemort and his wife, but Hermione had been present at the time. However, he'd seen Hermione the morning James's body was discovered and he saw how shocked and upset she was with events, not to mention she'd been drugged the same as the rest of the family. Even so it was frightening to realise that a Death Eater had been so close to Hermione while they were despatching James. Dumbledore shuddered to think what would have happened if whoever had killed James had realised who Hermione was and taken her when she was unconscious.

After the incident with James, Dumbledore had kept an even closer eye on Hermione. He was still certain that she didn't know the truth about who she really was, but he wanted to be sure she didn't accidentally fall into enemy hands. He had no idea if Lucius would be able to sense Voldemort's blood in her using any sort of magic, but he wasn't taking any chances. Luckily, Hermione remained safely in school and she didn't come into contact with any Death Eaters.

The only slightly worrying incident came shortly after New Year when Hermione broke up a fight between Harry and Draco. Dumbledore was convinced the peculiar reaction of the spell Hermione had used was affected by the presence of Draco, which only strengthened his theory about the pair being connected far more than they'd originally thought. Luckily Hermione and her friends bought his feeble excuse about her being worried about Harry, and for some reason either Draco hadn't told Lucius about the incident or Lucius hadn't picked up on the strangeness of it. Either way, Dumbledore was relieved when the matter was forgotten about in a few days. The last thing he wanted was for someone to look into the incident more closely and discover a connection between Hermione and Draco.

As it was all they had to do was get through a few more weeks of school, then Hermione would never have to see Draco again and Dumbledore could stop worrying about a potential connection between them. He would also be able to concentrate fully on the Death Eater threat, and maybe once he could also spend some time working on a way of getting Sirius out of Azkaban. Dumbledore was convinced that Sirius was innocent, unfortunately with his duties at Hogwarts he just couldn't spare the time to look deeper into things. With the holidays rapidly approaching he would have a couple of free months to concentrate on a few pressing issues. However, right now he had to put Death Eaters out of his mind and concentrate back on school issues.

Shaking his head to rid himself of his thoughts, Dumbledore finished the last of his tea and began preparing his office for his guests. As well as the head students, he was also expecting the four heads of houses. Snape was obviously going to be present considering all the help he'd given to Hermione and Terry, but he wanted the other three Professors to view the memory tribute before the rest of the school saw it at graduation.

Dumbledore had just placed the last chair in front of his desk when there was a knock at the door and the first of the Professors arrived. Within five minutes all four Professors had arrived, along with Terry and Hermione. Snape had brought the pensieve back to Dumbledore's office and together the two wizards made sure it was back in its rightful place. When the pensieve was settled on its table, Snape reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of memories. Very carefully he poured the contents of the vial into the pensieve and Dumbledore cast the appropriate spells so that the memories would play out on a blank wall he'd cleared earlier that day.

"I must say, I'm looking forward to this," Dumbledore announced as he sat down to view the memories.

"I hope it lives up to your expectations," Hermione replied with a smile.

"I'm sure it will," Dumbledore reassured the young witch, before focusing his attention on the wall as the memories began to play.

The first batch of memories were all from first year, and as they carried on the memories chronicled the last seven years at Hogwarts. Following the yearly roundups, there was a brief tribute to all the staff and Professors at Hogwarts. The tributes consisted of memories over the last seven years and students standing talking about different members of staff. Next the four heads of houses got their turn to feature, and each of the four Professors were remembered for both their teaching and their leadership of their houses. Finally it was Dumbledore's turn, and Hermione started the tribute by talking about what a wonderful man the Headmaster was and how he'd helped her over the years. Plenty of the other students also had glowing things to say about Dumbledore, and their comments were interspersed with memories over the years. Once Dumbledore's tribute was over, the memories ended with a couple of views of the castle that Terry had donated as he flew around for one final time.

"That was lovely," McGonagall said once the display was over. "I don't think I've ever seen such a fitting tribute to the school and its staff before."

"It was rather special," Dumbledore agreed as he turned to the two head students. "I want to thank you both for coming up with such a marvellous idea and executing it so well."

"We had a lot of help with the last part," Hermione replied. "Professor Snape has been invaluable to us, we never could have done this without him."

"Yes, thank you Severus," Dumbledore said, turning to the head of Slytherin. "I appreciate all you've done for this project."

"I was just doing my job," Severus replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just gather the memories back in the vial and be heading back down to the dungeons. I have a detention to take this afternoon."

"Of course, I don't want to detain you," Dumbledore said, offering Snape a smile before he turned back to Hermione and Terry, leaving the Potions Professor to gather the memories from the pensive. "Now since the project is finished, I thought I would keep the memories in my office until graduation. We don't want them getting lost or spilt."

"Of course," Hermione replied, making sure her glee didn't show as she kept his attention away from Severus. "Thank you for keeping them safe, Professor."

Hermione knew Dumbledore's idea of keeping the memories in his office had come from Severus. A few days ago Severus had casually mentioned to the headmaster how close the vial of memories had come to getting damaged in the crowded heads office. Of course the memories had never been in any danger, but Hermione had been hopeful that by telling Dumbledore that they had been that he would offer to keep them safe until graduation. As usual Dumbledore had acted exactly as Hermione had predicted he would, and the vial would be safely locked up in Dumbledore's office until graduation.

"Here you go," Severus said, handing Dumbledore a vial of silvery memories.

"Thank you," Dumbledore replied with a smile.

Nodding his head, Severus swept out of the office. After saying their goodbyes Terry and Hermione also left, closely followed by Professors Sprout and Flitwick. As they were leaving Hermione heard McGonagall ask to speak to Dumbledore about some upcoming exams, and she heard the headmaster agree they could talk after he'd locked the memories away.

Leaving the Headmasters office, Hermione said goodbye to Terry and set off towards Gryffindor Tower. Halfway along the corridor, she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and yanked into an alcove. Acting instinctively Hermione pulled out her wand and had it at her attacker's throat in an instant.

"I would appreciate it if you lowered your wand," the Potions Professor drawled.

"Sorry, you scared me," Hermione said as she quickly put her wand away. "I wasn't expecting to find you lurking in alcoves."

"It's not my usual style, but as I said I have a detention to take so we can't talk down in the dungeons," Severus replied. "I just thought you might like to be reassured I made the switch."

"I never doubted you for a minute," Hermione reassured the older wizard. While she hadn't noticed a switch taking place, she'd had every confidence that Severus would have delivered on his end of the bargain. "What are you going to do with the vial of memories you still have?"

"I'll destroy it tonight," Severus answered. "We don't want anyone to find it, either before graduation or after."

"Thank you," Hermione smiled at the Potions Professor, even though he could barely see her in the dim alcove. "I appreciate everything you're doing to help me."

"It's the least I can do, considering my past actions," Severus replied gravely. "I never should have joined the Order. I should have stayed loyal to your father."

"You're loyal now, that's what counts," Hermione said. She supposed she could get mad that Severus had once abandoned her father, but since his death Severus had done everything in his power to try and make amends. Not only did he go to Lucius as soon as he found out what the Order had done, but he'd been invaluable in helping Hermione get her revenge on Dumbledore and the Order. "I couldn't have done any of this without you."

"I'm sure you would have managed," Severus chuckled. "You're a very bright girl, and something tells me you would have gotten what you wanted whether I was here or not."

"Maybe," Hermione shrugged. "But you've made things so much easier."

"I try," Severus replied. "I better be going before someone comes along and sees us. The last thing we want is gossip to be flying around about us."

Hermione nodded in agreement as Severus slunk out of the alcove. Wanting to give him plenty of time to get away before she emerged, Hermione remained in the alcove for another two minutes. When she did leave the alcove she headed back to Gryffindor Tower with a huge grin on her face. She'd done all she could for now, she just had to wait until graduation and enjoy the end result of her hard work and plotting


	42. Chapter 42

Hermione strolled through the streets of Hogsmeade, Ron's arm draped heavily over her shoulder. Hermione desperately wanted to push Ron away from her, but she kept her control and acted like the good little girlfriend she was supposed to be. Luckily she would only have to keep up the pretence for another week, then the truth would be out and she would be free. However, for the time being she was experiencing one final Hogsmeade trip with Harry and Ron.

Hermione had considered skipping the trip and spending the day holed up with Draco in their private room, but her boyfriend had admitted he had plans to go into Hogsmeade himself with his friends. Not wanting to deprive Draco of the chance to spend time with his friends, Hermione agreed they should both go into Hogsmeade one final time. However, they did arrange to meet up later that evening. Luckily with both of them still having a couple more exams to finish it would be easy to claim they had to do extra revision.

Over the course of the morning in Hogsmeade, Hermione, Harry and Ron had joined up with their fellow Gryffindors, Dean, Seamus and Neville. They'd also had a few run-ins with Draco and his friends. As usual Draco was never shy of a few nasty words to say, especially as Hermione knew how much it bothered him to see Ron acting like her boyfriend, and both Blaise and Theo were more than happy to taunt Ron and Harry about their exploits with Ginny. There was at least once that a physical fight had only been averted because Dean and Seamus intervened and dragged Harry and Ron away from the Slytherins.

"I think I've had enough," Harry declared, after yet another slanging match with the Slytherin trio. "We should just head back up to school and spend the rest of the afternoon in the common room."

"We'll meet you up there," Seamus said. "We just want to pop back to Honeydukes."

While Seamus, Dean and Neville headed towards the bustling sweet shop, Hermione, Harry and Ron turned in the direction of the school. As they passed an alleyway, halfway through the village, Harry suddenly stopped and glared into the gloom.

"What is it?" Ron questioned, looking around for signs of trouble. "Is it Death Eaters?"

"Not quite," Harry replied bitterly. "Look in the alleyway."

Hermione and Ron both turned their attention to the alleyway, their eyes widening in surprise by what they saw. Standing near the far end of the alley, was Lupin and Tonks. Tonks was leaning up against the wall, but Lupin was pressed right into her and the pair looked to be having a quiet conversation. From what Hermione could see, there also looked to be a strong element of flirting going on between the Professor and the young Auror.

"Should we warn him?" Ron asked.

"Warn who, what?" Hermione questioned, momentarily puzzled by what had Harry and Ron so concerned.

"Warn Lupin about Tonks," Ron replied as Harry threw Hermione a scathing look.

"This again," Hermione said with a sigh. With everything that had been going on, she'd almost forgotten about Harry and Ron's theory that Tonks was really Athena. "You have no proof. You cannot go around accusing people of being dark without evidence to back you up."

"I don't care if we don't have proof, Hermione," Harry snapped. "Lupin is a friend, we need to warn him about the potential danger he faces. I can't stand back and watch as he gets friendly with Athena."

"You don't even know if she is Athena," Hermione argued. She didn't want Harry and Ron accusing people of being Athena in case the truth somehow came out before she'd had her chance to get revenge.

"Not yet, but we'll find proof," Ron said, backing Harry up.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Hermione asked. Clearly the two boys had been talking about Athena without her, and she didn't like it. Who knows what they'd been planning in her absence.

"We don't know," Harry replied, his focus still on the couple in the alley. "School finishes in a few weeks, and once we're out of here we're going to find some answers. The rest of the Order might be happy to sit back and let the Death Eaters attack, but we're not. We're going to find out who Athena is, and end this for good."

"How are you planning on ending it?" Hermione asked.

"We've already told you, we're going to do what should have been done years ago. We're going to kill her," Harry answered coldly.

"But before we do that, we need to discover who she is," Ron added hastily. He'd noticed the disgusted look Hermione had given Harry, and he didn't want his girlfriend thinking they were going to turn into cold blooded killers. If she did think that of them then she would never agree to marry him, and he was going to propose as soon as he plucked up the courage.

"But you still think its Tonks," Hermione said. It really was laughable the way the duo had latched onto Tonks based on a few drunken words from Lily, but at the same time it could be dangerous if they publically accused Tonks of being Voldemort's daughter.

"We don't know," Harry confessed. "But I can't let Lupin get involved with her without giving him some sort of warning. He's the only real connection I have to my father now Sirius is in Azkaban. I can't let him be hurt as well."

"Just be careful about throwing wild allegations around," Hermione warned, knowing she wasn't going to be able to talk Harry out of mentioning his theory to Lupin.

Harry nodded distractedly as he continued to watch the couple in the alley. Hermione felt uncomfortable watching Lupin and Tonks, especially when the pair shared a short kiss, but Ron insisted they stayed to support Harry. Not wanting to miss what was going to happen, Hermione stayed with the duo, although she turned away from the alley and refused to spy on their Professor's personal relationships.

"Come on, they've separated," Harry cried, jolting Hermione's attention back to the alley.

Harry and Ron sprinted off down the alley to try and catch Lupin before he went too far. With a sigh, Hermione followed after them at a more sedate pace. By the time she reached the end of the alley, Harry and Ron were standing with Lupin, asking if they could have a word in private. Lupin readily agreed to speak to the trio, although Harry insisted they returned to the castle before they spoke.

"Are you sure everything's alright, Harry?" Lupin checked. "You're not in trouble, are you?"

"No, we just need to talk to you," Harry replied. "But we need to do it in private. Your office is the perfect place."

Holding back his questions, Lupin nodded at his best friend's son as they set off back up to school. The trip back to school passed in silence and when they entered the castle, they all trooped directly to Lupin's office that was connected to his classroom. Once Harry was satisfied both doors were securely shut and they couldn't be overheard, he took a seat in front of Lupin's desk. Ron sat down beside his friend, while Hermione perched on a chair slightly behind the boys.

"So, what's this all about?" Lupin asked as he settled himself in his chair behind his desk. "Why the secrecy?"

"We've got something to tell you," Harry answered seriously. "Something you may not like."

"Go on," Lupin said cautiously. He was just hoping that Harry hadn't done something stupid and was going to confess to being in some sort of trouble, it was the last thing that Lily needed at the moment.

"It's about Tonks," Harry said. "We're not sure she's who she claims to be. We think she's Athena Riddle."

Lupin stared at Harry in bewilderment for a couple of seconds, before he let out a bark of laughter.

"It's not funny," Ron exclaimed in outrage. "We're trying to save your life here."

"I appreciate your concern, but Nymphadora is not Voldemort's daughter," Lupin answered.

"How can you be so sure?" Harry demanded. "Until recently, you thought she was dead."

"I did," Lupin agreed with a nod. "However, I know for a fact that Nymphadora cannot be Voldemort's daughter."

"How?" Harry repeated. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because Voldemort's daughter was just a baby when her parents died," Lupin replied. "Nymphadora is too old to be Athena."

"A baby," Harry repeated. "That would make her about our age."

Lupin nodded. "So you see, she can't be Nymphadora. Now would the three of you care to explain why you thought such a thing?"

"I want to point out, that I was against throwing wild accusations around," Hermione said. "I said that they shouldn't be accusing Tonks without proof."

"We knew that as well, we just didn't want to take the risk and not warn you of the possibility," Harry said to Lupin. "We were just looking out for you."

"I appreciate that, but something has to have aroused your suspicions," Lupin pressed. "What made you think Nymphadora was really Athena?"

"My Mum," Harry admitted quietly. "Since we found out about Athena we've been trying to gather all the information we can about her. Just before we came back to school, Mum had been drinking and she started talking about Athena. She said that Dad was right, and they should have been more careful about her. She then warned me to be careful, that Athena was closer than I thought."

"Lily knows who she is," Lupin gasped.

"I think so," Harry replied with a nod. "I couldn't get her to say anything more, but that was the conclusion we came to. We discussed possibilities of who Athena could be and with Tonks being around more as a new member of the Order we thought about her."

Lupin nodded, understanding where Harry had been coming from with the little information he had regarding Athena. With what he knew about Athena, and Lily's mysterious comments it would make sense that they'd looked at someone who they didn't know quite as well, but had been welcomed into the Order with open arms. However, he was thinking about someone much closer to home than Tonks.

"I suggest the three of you head off and enjoy the rest of your weekend," Lupin said, eager to be alone so he could think.

"We're sorry," Harry said as the three teenagers stood up. "Please don't tell Tonks we distrusted her. She's really cool, and I think it's great the pair of you are getting friendly."

"I won't be telling anyone anything, but don't go around throwing any more accusations around," Lupin said. "I understand you need to know about Athena, but this isn't the way. I promise that over the summer, I'll help you find out all we can about her."

"Thanks," Harry smiled at the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, before turning round and leading Ron and Hermione out of the room.

Left alone, Lupin slunk back in his chair as he pondered over what he'd just learnt. If Lily knew who Athena was, then she'd known that Voldemort's daughter was alive all these years. And if Lily knew then James knew, and if James knew than chances were that Sirius knew, meaning his best friends had been lying to him for years. Lupin knew he had to speak to Lily as soon as possible and find out the truth. Luckily she would be at Hogwarts the following weekend for Harry's graduation, meaning he could confront her then and finally get the truth out of her.

While Lupin was shocked that Lily had been lying to him, he was less shocked that Dumbledore had lied about keeping the truth about Athena to himself. After discovering that Dumbledore had lied about her in the first place, he didn't trust the Headmaster as far as he could throw him. Of course Lupin had never admitted his growing distrust of Dumbledore to anyone as he felt the owed the headmaster a debt of gratitude. Not many people would have hired him to teach with his condition as a werewolf, but Dumbledore had defended him numerous times over the years and he refused to fire him even when certain parents complained. It was thanks to Dumbledore he had a solid career and a life worth living, but that still didn't mean he trusted the man anymore.

With his doubts about Dumbledore growing, and the knowledge that Lily knew who Athena was, Lupin had a suspicion that he knew who Athena was. He thought that Athena might possibly be Ginny Weasley. Molly announced she was pregnant with Ginny only a short while after Athena was supposedly killed, and Lupin figured it would have been easy enough to hide Athena for a few months. It would also make perfect sense that Dumbledore would want to place her somewhere he could keep an eye on her.

The trouble was, he just couldn't believe that Dumbledore would allow her to attend Hogwarts, not when he knew Draco would be present. The prophecy was the whole reason the Order had launched an attack on Voldemort, so would Dumbledore really risk letting Athena and Draco come into contact? On the other hand if Ginny was Athena, it meant she was in the year below Draco and a Weasley to boot, which would at least ensure her contact with Draco would be minimum at best. But was it still too big a risk to take? Would Dumbledore have really been so reckless?

A few months ago, Lupin would have confidently said that even if Athena was alive then Dumbledore would have kept her well away from Hogwarts and Draco, but now he wasn't so sure. Now, he didn't know how much he trusted Dumbledore. Not after all the lies the old man had told.


	43. Chapter 43

When Ron invited Hermione for a walk the day before graduation, she quickly picked up that something was going on. His whole demeanour reeked of nervousness, and she suspected he was about to propose. Hermione wasn't sure she wanted Ron to propose or not. Things would be coming to a head tomorrow and their fake relationship would be over. And even without a proposal from Ron, she was fairly confident she would come out of the whole thing looking like the injured party.

Hermione figured things would go one of two ways the following afternoon. Either she would end things, claiming she couldn't be involved with someone whose family had conspired to kill her family and hide her true identity from her, or more likely Ron would be so disgusted with the truth that he would end it. Personally Hermione was hoping for the latter to happen, as she would gain even more sympathy if he was the one who ended things with her.

Tearing her mind back to the present, Hermione turned her attention to Ron. Since they'd arrived outside, he'd been abnormally quiet and all they'd done was walk around the Black Lake. They were now over the far side of the lake, and Ron had yet to do anything that would indicate why he'd invited her for a walk.

"So," Hermione began when Ron came to an abrupt halt. "Is there a reason you've invited me for a walk?"

"Actually, there is," Ron replied with a solemn nod.

Hermione waited for Ron to continue, but for several minute he just stood looking at her. Just as she was beginning to worry in case he was suspicious of who she truly was, he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a small box. Dropping to one knee, he opened the box and looked up at Hermione with a hopeful smile. Hermione looked into the box and found a silver ring with a small diamond. The ring clearly wasn't expensive, but it was surprisingly tasteful and in other circumstances, Hermione would have really liked it.

"I know it's not much, but it's all I can afford," he muttered, before clearing his throat and taking a deep breath. "Hermione, I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

"Of course I will," Hermione replied, playing the part of a loving girlfriend to perfection. Even though the proposal wasn't necessary to their plan now, she could still see the added benefits that would come with being engaged to Ron before the truth came out.

Ron grinned happily, and pulling the ring out of the box he slipped it onto Hermione's finger. Getting to his feet, he pulled Hermione into his arms and pressed his lips against hers. As usual Hermione's body and mind fought the fact she was kissing someone other than Draco, but she managed to continue with the kiss for long enough not to arouse Ron's suspicions. After a few minutes, she managed to end the kiss, but Ron continued to hold her in his arms.

"I can't believe you said yes," he declared in an excited voice.

"Why wouldn't I say yes?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"I don't know," Ron shrugged. "I guess I still can't believe I've got you."

"Well, you have," Hermione replied, feeling an unusual pang of guilt.

With all Harry and Ron's animosity towards Athena, she sometimes forgot they hadn't actually done anything to her. They'd been caught up in her plans for vengeance, and they would end up hurt when they discovered the truth. Maybe she should have found another way to get her revenge, a way that didn't involve Harry and Ron getting involved. Then again the pair had proved numerous times that if they had known the truth about her then they would have tried to eliminate her.

"Should we go and tell people?" Ron questioned eagerly.

Sure," Hermione replied with a smile, brushing off her feelings of guilt.

Taking hold of her hand, Ron quickly led the way round the lake and back towards the school. Within half an hour they were back at Hogwarts and Ron was rushing them up to Gryffindor Tower. Spitting out the password, Ron barrelled into the common room dragging Hermione along behind him.

"What's going on?" Harry asked his best friends from where he was playing cards with Dean, Seamus and Neville.

"Hermione just agreed to marry me," Ron announced loudly.

Ron's announcement was met with shouts of glee, and before Hermione knew it she was being whisked up in numerous celebratory hugs. Almost all of Gryffindor offered their congratulations, and all the girls wanted to see Hermione's ring. Of course Lavender Brown had to make a snarky remark about the size of the ring, but everyone else was happy for the couple.

The celebrations continued all afternoon, and by the time they headed down to dinner, Hermione knew the news would be all around the school by now. Over the course of the afternoon, several students had come and gone from Gryffindor Tower and Hermione knew the gossip would spread like wildfire.

Sure enough when Hermione entered the Great Hall, plenty of people not from Gryffindor offered their congratulations. Ron basked in the glory of the attention, but Hermione was extremely self-conscious about being the centre of attention. She was even more uncomfortable with the attention when Draco and his friends entered the Great Hall. The Slytherins clearly didn't know what was going on, but they were soon caught up on the news and Hermione knew the instant Draco heard the news. His face briefly distorted into a mask of pain, before he controlled himself and settled a nasty sneer on his face.

"Hey Granger, I didn't realise you were so hard up," Draco called from his seat at the nearby Slytherin table.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron questioned with narrowed eyes.

"I'm just saying, she has to be hard up to agree to marry you," Draco replied with a smirk. "Even a mudblood like her, can do better than you."

"Watch your tongue, Malfoy," Ron hissed, jumping to his feet.

"What are you going to do about it?" Draco asked tauntingly.

"Ron, don't," Hermione said, grasping hold of Ron's wrist as he moved to head towards the blond Slytherin.

"Hermione's right," Harry said in agreement. "He's not worth the hassle. He's just jealous because he's all alone."

"That's what you think, Potter," Draco sneered.

"Please, we all know you're single," Ron laughed. "Even Parkinson won't touch you."

"Maybe I should try your sister," Draco shot back with a wicked smirk. "She'll spread her legs for anyone, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to have a bit of fun."

"Bastard," Ron roared, pulling free of Hermione's grip and launching himself at the Slytherin.

Before anyone could react the two boys were brawling on the floor, with punches and insults being exchanged. Hermione watched with wide eyes, totally unsure what to do. She suspected part of Draco's taunting had been because he wasn't happy with her charade of being with Ron, and after a whole year of witnessing it she couldn't really blame him for losing it. However, she didn't want him to get into too much trouble before graduation tomorrow.

Luckily the fight had only been going on for a few minutes when the staff descended on the brawling boys. While Dumbledore shouted at the two boys, Snape and Lupin stepped in to separate them. Lupin grabbed hold of Ron while Snape kept control of Draco. Both boys were bleeding from the lips, and no doubt they would both have bruises on their faces.

"This is ridiculous," Dumbledore bellowed. "You have just over a week before you leave school and you're rolling around on the floor like children. Both of you get back to your common rooms immediately. You can have dinner there, and neither of you are to leave the common room again tonight. Professor Snape, Professor Lupin, will you ensure both boys make it back to their dorms?"

"Of course," Lupin replied. "Come on Ron, let's go and get you cleaned up."

While Ron headed off with Lupin, Snape marched Draco from the Great Hall. Harry briefly debated going after Ron, but Dumbledore ordered everyone to sit down and finish their dinner. Reluctantly everyone returned to their seats, but the main topic of conversation was now the fight between Ron and Draco.

"Bloody Malfoy," Harry muttered, stabbing at the food on his plate. "I'll be pleased when we leave school and we never have to see him again."

Hermione muttered something that could be construed as agreement, while she mentally wondered if Snape could get Draco out of the Slytherins dorms for a few hours. Part of her wanted to check her boyfriend was okay, while another part of her was massively turned on by his actions. She knew his entire display had been borne from jealousy, and she knew that if given half the chance he would do far worse than just throw a few punches Ron's way.

After dinner, Hermione accompanied Harry back to Gryffindor Tower. Ron was moping beside the fire, and barely grunted when they sat down beside him. His lip was swollen and his left eye was already showing signs of bruising, but apart from that he seemed fine. Hermione stayed for nearly fifteen minutes before excusing herself, claiming she had head duties to perform.

"I'll see you when I got back," Hermione said to Ron, brushing her lips over his cheek. "Try and stay out of trouble while I'm away."

"It's okay, there's no bloody Slytherins up here," Ron muttered.

Leaving Harry and Ron to moan about Slytherins, Draco in particular, Hermione left Gryffindor Tower and made her way down to the dungeons. Even though as Head Girl she had every right to be wherever she wanted to go in the castle, she still kept to the shadows as she traversed the dungeon corridors. Arriving at Snape's office, she knocked on the door and was quickly ushered into the Potions Professor's office.

"I need you to get Draco out of the dungeons," Hermione said to Snape when he asked what she wanted. "I need to see him."

"You'll be together tomorrow evening, can't your romantic dramas wait one day?" Snape asked with a sigh.

"We need to discuss a few things before tomorrow," Hermione replied, telling a partial truth. They did need to have one final talk before the following day's events, but mainly she just wanted to see her boyfriend. "Everything needs to be in place. We need to be sure what we're doing."

"I'm sure I can find an excuse to get him out of the common room for a few hours," Snape conceded. "But you've only got a few hours. I don't want Dumbledore coming and checking up on him and finding he's not here. I'm sure you don't want that either, not when you're so close to getting what you want."

"I won't get what I want until Dumbledore is dead," Hermione replied icily. "But tomorrow, will be a big step towards achieving that goal."

"I'll go and get Draco," Snape said. "Just remember what I said, don't be more than a couple of hours."

Agreeing not to spend too long together, Hermione headed off to their private room while Snape went to get Draco. Arriving in the room, Hermione kicked off her shoes and settled herself on the large bed. Less than five minutes later, Draco slipped into the room and greeted her with a wide smile. Hermione couldn't help but notice that Draco showed no ill effects from the fight he'd had with Ron, meaning he'd either patched himself up better than the redhead, or Ron hadn't done as much damage as it had initially appeared.

"Where's your bruises?" Hermione asked.

"You want me to have bruises?" Draco questioned in amusement as he kicked off his shoes and pounced on the bed next to Hermione. "Why would you want to sully my good looks?"

"I'm pleased you don't have bruises," Hermione replied. "But it would have been slightly hot knowing you were marked because you were fighting over me."

"I do have a bruise on my cheek, but I've hidden it with magic," Draco explained. "I'm not going to let anyone see that Weasley has marked me."

"Not even me?" Hermione asked.

"Not even you."

"Shame," Hermione pouted. "I could have kissed it better."

"You can still kiss it better, it's my left cheek." Draco pointed to his left cheek and turned his head so Hermione could gently kiss him.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Hermione questioned innocently.

Draco smirked at Hermione, and she knew he would suddenly have a lot of injuries that needed kissing better. Sure enough, he found several places that Ron had apparently struck. Hermione obediently kissed everywhere Draco pointed out, even though a few places involved the removing of clothes.

"I have to admit, it was pretty hot watching you fighting over me," Hermione said, running her fingers down Draco's spine.

"I've been wanting to smash Weasley's face in all year," Draco admitted as he popped open the buttons on Hermione's shirt. "You have no idea how hard I've found it, watching him slobbering all over you."

"It's hardly been a barrel of laughs for me either," Hermione pointed out.

"It's only for a few more hours," Draco remarked. "Then we're out of here, and the whole world can know you're mine."

"I'm yours?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "That's awfully possessive."

"I'm a very possessive person," Draco replied in all seriousness. "Should I show you how possessive I can be?"

"Yes please," Hermione grinned.

Draco grinned back at Hermione, before he crashed his lips against hers and proceeded to thoroughly show her just how possessive he could be.


	44. Chapter 44

Once she was dressed, Hermione took a moment to glance out of the window in her dorm room. From where her room was located in Gryffindor Tower, she could see the area where the graduation ceremony would be held in just a few hours' time. A pile of seats were in place standing in front of a makeshift stage with a big white wall for them to screen the memories on.

Turning away from the window, Hermione picked up the backpack on her bag and glanced around the room in case she'd missed anything. In the bag were all her possessions that she didn't want to lose. Because they had no idea just how today was going to go, she had no idea when, or even if, she would be able to collect her belongings. As such she'd packed a bag and would give it to Snape, so he could ensure it made it safely to the manor. Chances were no-one would be able to tell that all her stuff wasn't in her room, so Hermione wasn't worried that after the event someone would look through her stuff and find things missing.

Quietly Hermione left her room and made her way downstairs. Luckily it was still early so no-one was around to question where she was going carrying a bag. Sneaking out of Gryffindor Tower, she made her way down to the dungeons without being seen. Depositing her bag with Snape, she checked he was ready for the day ahead before heading back up towards Gryffindor Tower.

Halfway towards Gryffindor Tower, Hermione was suddenly grabbed and pulled into an alcove. Her first instinct was to pull her wand out and lash out at her captor, but almost instantly she recognised her boyfriend's familiar scent and relaxed.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. "If you blow this now, I'll kill you."

"Relax, most people are still asleep," Draco retorted. "I just wanted to check you were ready for today."

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Hermione replied. "I just wish we could predict what's going to happen. It adds to the nerves, not knowing what sort of outcome we're going to get."

"Are you regretting your decision to expose Dumbledore?" Draco asked. The original plan had just been to kill the old man, but now they were exposing his lies to the whole world and killing him was something they still didn't know how they were going to achieve.

"No, this is the right move to deal with Dumbledore and the rest of the Order," Hermione answered firmly. "I want everyone to know what liars they all are. We can deal with his disposal once the dust's settled on today."

"And are you sure you're ready for this?" Draco checked. "You'll be surrounded by the Order when all this comes out. Are you sure that's safe?"

"If things get dangerous, we have our connection," Hermione replied. "But like I said yesterday, we're not revealing that unless we have to. I don't want anyone knowing our magic is connected unless it's vital to reveal it."

"Don't worry, I won't do a thing unless you give me the signal," Draco said reluctantly.

Hermione had made him promise not to act unless she gave him a pre-arranged signal, but much to his displeasure she'd made it clear she would only issue the signal if things got out of hand. She was going to do her best to ensure the day ran without anyone finding out their magic was connected. Something inside of Hermione told her that they could need their secret later on in life, and it would be better for them if no-one knew just what they could do together.

"I have to be getting back," Hermione said, glancing at her watch. "I don't want anyone getting suspicious."

"I'll see you later," Draco said. Before Hermione had a chance to leave the darkness of the alcove, he pulled her into his arms and crashed their lips together in a searing kiss. "I can't wait for tonight," he whispered in her ear as he let her go.

"Nor can I," Hermione replied with a smile. Blowing Draco one final kiss, she darted out of the alcove and headed back to Gryffindor Tower before anyone got up and realised she wasn't there.

Luckily Hermione was back in Gryffindor Tower before anyone was up and noticed her absence. When Harry and Ron trooped downstairs, Hermione was settled in front of the fire with a book. Harry and Ron settled down beside her as they waited for it to be time to go to breakfast. The second Ron knew The Great Hall would be open for the first meal of the day, he jumped up and insisted they went to eat.

The Great Hall filled up much earlier than it usually did on a Sunday morning, but most of the students eating breakfast were seventh years or other students who would be attending the graduation ceremony that afternoon. The ceremony was always held on a Sunday, and attendance was always optional for any younger students. Hermione herself had attended the graduation ceremonies of Percy's year and the twin's year, alongside Ron, Ginny and Harry.

"I'm so nervous I can barely eat," Harry said, pushing his breakfast around the plate.

"What's there to be nervous about?" Ron asked, piling yet more scrambled eggs onto his plate. "We sit there while Dumbledore makes a speech about our last seven years of school, before everyone gets a certificate. It's not like we have to make a speech or anything."

"Maybe nerves isn't the right word," Harry amended. "All I can think of is the people who won't be here. My Dad and Sirius should have both been here, but they're not."

"I know what you mean," Ron said, his face dropping as he placed his knife and fork on his half empty plate. "Dad won't be coming to the ceremony. Mum wrote to me last week and said he still wasn't up to leaving the hospital."

"I thought he was on the mend after his attack," Hermione said. In actual fact she'd forgotten all about Ron's family as she'd dealt with them and didn't want to inflict more damage on them unless she had to.

"Physically he is," Ron answered. "But he's still struggling mentally. He's not coping with his disfigurement and his loss of eye. Mum was hoping he'd be home before now, but it's looking like we'll be finished school before he leaves St Mungo's."

Breakfast was finished with both Harry and Ron moping about the year they'd endured. Luckily it was time to head back to Gryffindor Tower before either of them got started on the subject of Athena and the Death Eaters. Settling back down in Gryffindor Tower the trio enjoyed one last morning together before they headed back downstairs to start preparations for the graduation ceremony.

As Head Girl, Hermione had to assist the Professors in last minute preparations but Harry and Ron could just sit back and relax with their friends for a few hours. Less than an hour before graduation, coaches began making their way up from Hogsmeade carrying parents of the seventh years and other guests. All the students were milling around where the coaches stopped, greeting their parents and heading off to grab the best seats for the ceremony.

The Grangers arrived with Molly and Lily, and by the time they arrived Hermione was back with Harry and Ron having finished her Head Girl duties. Ginny had also joined them as she was attending the ceremony to watch Ron graduate. After greeting the teenagers, the adult's attention all turned towards Hermione's ring and her engagement to Ron.

"Welcome to the family, Hermione," Molly gushed, sweeping Hermione up into a bone crushing hug.

While Hermione tried to extradite herself from Molly's clutches without being rude, she watched Lily hugging Harry and telling him how proud James would be of him. As Harry's eyes filled up with tears, Hermione felt a wave of guilt wash over her but she pushed it aside as she thought about how James had killed her mother. She felt bad that Harry had to lose his father, but James had gotten everything that he deserved.

"Shall we go and take our seats?" Molly questioned. "We don't want to be stuck at the back."

The group made their way towards the back of the castle, where the stage was set for the graduation ceremony. Apart from a few reserved seats for people from the Ministry, people could sit wherever they wished and the students usually chose to sit with their families. Spotting the Longbottoms taking their seats, the group headed over to join Neville and his parents. The seating was arranged so all the youngsters sat together, and Hermione found herself sitting in between Harry and Ron. She had been hoping to only sit next to one of them and she couldn't help but be wary of sitting in between them considering what was to come. However, she couldn't move without appearing suspicious so she remained sitting in between the duo.

While everyone was chattering amongst themselves and looking forward to the graduation ceremony, Hermione took the time to study the crowd. Specifically she was looking for the Malfoys so she would know where to look if she needed help. It only took Hermione a few minutes to locate Lucius, Narcissa and Draco sitting a few rows in front of them with a group of other Slytherins and their parents. As if sensing someone watching him, Lucius casually looked around and caught Hermione's eye. Giving her a barely noticeable nod, he continued to look around the gathering crowd before turning his attention back to his wife and son. Satisfied that her backup was well in place, Hermione turned her attention back to the people surrounding her as the Professors made their entrance and took their seats up on the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Hogwarts," Dumbledore announced from the centre of the stage as everyone quietened down to watch the ceremony. "We're here today to celebrate our seventh years."

For the next hour, Dumbledore spoke about the students that would be leaving them in just a few weeks' time. At the end of his long drawn out speech, he began the part of the ceremony where every student headed up on stage to receive a certificate to commemorate their years spent at the school. As Head Girl, Hermione was first up alongside Terry as Head Boy. After that it was an alphabetical procedure as everyone trooped up to get their certificate. Once the last certificate had been presented to Blaise, Dumbledore one again took centre stage.

"This year we have something special to round off the afternoon," Dumbledore announced. "Our brilliant head students, Hermione Granger and Terry Boot, have been working hard on creating a tribute to Hogwarts, its staff and the time the students have spent here. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present a memoir of the last seven years of Hogwarts."

Placing a pensieve in the middle of the stage, Dumbledore produced the vial of memories from his robes and poured them into the basin. Waving his wand and muttering an incantation, a light appeared on the blank screen at the back of the stage and images of Hogwarts began to appear, accompanied by a voice over that Hermione had provided.

"This is brill, Hermione," Ron whispered as Hermione's voice introduced the memoir.

Hermione merely smiled back at Ron as she settled back to watch the memoir. The first part of the memoir was an overview of the last seven years and it contained a vast array of memories. Several times, the crowd laughed out loud as humorous anecdotes from the past played out in front of them. Once the first part of the memoir was over, each Professor had a section dedicated to them. With each passing Professor, Hermione felt her nerves grow and when it came to Dumbledore's part she'd practically stopped breathing.

Dumbledore's section started exactly the same as it had on the original piece, with Hermione doing a voice over and speaking about what a wonderful Headmaster they'd been blessed with. A few clips of Dumbledore around school were then shown, before the scene abruptly changed and showed him in charge of an Order meeting.

"What on earth?" Hermione whispered with a frown, playing the part of a confused Head Girl. "What is this?"

"Don't you know?" Harry asked, watching as Dumbledore jumped to his feet and tried to stop the memories without success. "I thought you put it together."

"Not this bit," Hermione replied. "I haven't got a clue what this is."

As Dumbledore continued to try and stop the memories, the scene shifted again and Dumbledore, James, Arthur and Sirius were shown creeping around a house in the dark. By this time murmurs and whispers could be heard around the assembled audience, but they turned into full on gasps of horror as Dumbledore and James killed the couple in the bed. The murmurs then continued when Dumbledore announced he was going to take Athena.

"What is the meaning of this?" Terry Boot's father yelled. "What are these memories?"

"It's all a mistake," Dumbledore said as he desperately tried to get the memories to stop playing but every spell he tried failed to make any difference.

"I would think cold blooded murder and kidnap is a bit more than a mistake," Theo Nott's father remarked.

"Quiet," Lucius bellowed. "I for one, would like to witness the rest of these memories and see what else Dumbledore is hiding from us."

Lucius quietened the crowd with ease, and everyone watched as Dumbledore announced that he'd kidnapped Athena to his most trusted circle in the Order. Mouths dropped open as it was revealed that Dumbledore had placed Voldemort's daughter with a couple in the muggle world. Then Dumbledore mentioned just who Athena was, and all hell broke loose.


	45. Chapter 45

Hermione didn't have time to think about what was happening, as seeing her parents being murdered had left her numb. Last time she'd viewed the memories, Draco had shielded her from witnessing her parent's deaths, but this time her boyfriend wasn't with her and she saw the entire thing. A few tears were rolling down her cheeks by the time the revelation came about who she truly was, and by that time she was so caught up in things she didn't have to act shocked as everyone turned to stare at her, whispers rippling through the crowds.

"You," Ron hissed. "All this time it was you."

"I don't understand," Hermione whispered, ignoring Ron and turning her attention to Dumbledore who was standing perfectly still with his head bowed on the stage. "Is this true? Am I really Athena Riddle?"

"As if you didn't know," Harry snorted. "You've been playing us for years. You've been behind everything that's happened this year."

"What?" Hermione cried, turning to Harry in horror. "I would never. You know me Harry, I'm your friend."

"Not anymore," Harry hissed darkly. "I'm not friends with dark witches. You can go to hell, Athena."

Hermione flinched away from the hatred burning in Harry's eyes and turned to face Ron. Deep down a voice crowed over how well things were happening, but she pushed it down. For her to escape unscathed, she had to forget all about her plan for vengeance. She needed to concentrate on her reactions and make sure no-one realised she wasn't as innocent as she was claiming. Especially as everyone was sitting watching the showdown, most of them looking too shocked to act.

"Ron." Hermione reached out to touch the redhead's arm, but he hastily pulled out of her grasp.

As Ron was pulling away from her, his hand reared up and smacked her in the face. Hermione knew Ron hadn't deliberately hit her, but she was still taken by surprise. With a cry of pain, she raised her hand to hold her cheek. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of blond hair as Draco jumped to his feet, but luckily Lucius put a calming hand on his son's arm and stopped him from reacting rashly.

"And I'll have this back," Ron spat, taking hold of Hermione's left hand and roughly yanking her ring from her finger. "There's no way I'm going to marry you. I want nothing to do with scum like you."

"That is enough," Richard called, jumping up and making his way to Hermione's side. "Leave my daughter alone."

"But she's not your daughter," Harry retorted. "She's Voldemort's daughter. She's evil."

"Tell me it's not true," Hermione pleaded with her father, tears rolling down her face. "Tell me everything I've just seen is a pile of lies."

"I can't say about most of it, but I can say that you're not our biological daughter," Richard confirmed.

"But that doesn't mean we don't love you," Jean said, coming up beside her husband.

"I can say, we had no idea what happened to your parents," Richard said, throwing Dumbledore a disgusted look. "Albus is an old friend and he brought you to us and told us you were in danger. He asked us to raise you and keep you safe. We had no idea, he was responsible for your parent's deaths."

"Everyone knew Dumbledore killed Voldemort," Harry snorted. "We're all proud of him for ridding the world of evil."

"Speak for yourself," Terry Boot's father spat. "It's one thing killing a dark wizard in battle, but that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. It would appear Dumbledore killed him without him ever knowing. In my book that's cold blooded murder, no matter who the victim is."

"Here, here," another parent called and soon almost everyone was adding their support to Mr Boot. It would seem Dumbledore's actions weren't popular with everyone, even a few of the Order were shooting the headmaster dirty looks.

"I think we can all agree that Albus Dumbledore is a murderer," Lucius said, standing up and making his presence known. "Not to mention a kidnapper. Minister Fudge, I demand you arrest him."

"You can't do that," Harry cried, jumping to his feet as the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, got to his feet and moved towards the stage.

"Harry, it's okay," Dumbledore said calmly. "Lucius is right, under the law I should be arrested. But first I would like to speak in my defence."

"How can you defend cold blooded murder?" Lucius snorted in disgust.

"Let him talk," Hermione said quietly. "I want to hear what he has to say."

"I did what I thought was best for everyone," Dumbledore began. "We all know Voldemort was a tyrant and a dark wizard. I couldn't just stand back and watch as he corrupted an innocent child. My aim was to protect you, Hermione. You deserve better than the monster that was your father."

"The only monster I see is you," Hermione cried, brushing aside the tears that insisted on falling from her eyes. "You have no idea what sort of father, he was. I could have changed him, I could have been the one thing that brought him back from the darkness. But we'll never know now. You killed him. You murdered my mother and father and I'll never forgive you for that."

"Albus, you need to come with me," Fudge said quietly, plucking Dumbledore's wand from his hands and confiscating it. "Minerva, you're acting head until the end of term. I'm entrusting you to sort out this mess."

"You can't do this," Harry cried angrily, knocking over his chair and elbowing his way through the crowds. "You can't arrest Dumbledore, you need to arrest Athena. She's the bad guy here, she's done all of this. She killed my father, and set up my godfather. She's responsible for all the accidents the Weasley family have endured this year."

"One more word from you Potter, and I'll have you arrested for slander," Lucius hissed, pushing through the crowds himself until he was standing beside Harry.

"Why do you care?" Ron questioned, making his way to stand beside his best friend. Ginny trailed behind her brother and the trio stood directly in front of Lucius, staring at the blond wizard. "No-one's said anything about you."

"Yet," Ginny added in a mutter.

"I care because your friend here had just thrown some rather nasty accusations my goddaughter's way," Lucius replied. "I'm warning everyone, one more word against Athena and I'll be calling my lawyer."

"She's your goddaughter?" Ron questioned in disgust. "Well doesn't that just explain everything?"

"Enough," McGonagall called, coming to her feet. "I suggest we take this inside and discuss this like civilised adults."

"I'm not going anywhere until Dumbledore is released," Harry stated stubbornly.

"I'll be okay, Harry," Dumbledore said from where he was still standing nearby with Fudge. "Trust me, nothing will happen to me."

Harry began to protest some more but Dumbledore silenced him with a shake of the head as Fudge began to lead him away. The entire crowd watched Dumbledore leave with the Minister, some of whom even clapped and cheered as the headmaster was led away.

"Can everyone not directly involved in this, please make their way to The Great Hall," McGonagall called loudly. "We've laid on a buffet, so help yourself to food and drink. I promise that when this is sorted, we'll let you know."

Turning to her staff, McGonagall made sure the Professors escorted the students and parents to The Great Hall. She then turned to the group the revelations concerned and invited them to also step into the school. Harry, Ron and Ginny turned and went storming up to the school while Lucius complained under his breath before following on with Narcissa and Draco. Hermione slowly walked up to school with her parents at either side of her. Molly and Lily also walked up to school beside the Grangers, although Hermione was very aware that neither witch had spoken up in their own defence.

McGonagall ushered the group into the nearest empty classroom when they got back to school, where they were then joined by Snape and Lupin. Neither Professor said anything as they entered the room, and Hermione wasn't sure if McGonagall had asked them to be present in case things got out of hand.

"Why are they all here?" Harry spat, gesturing to the three Malfoys that stood together.

"We're here as Athena's godparents," Lucius replied. "Besides, after that little display by Weasley I don't think she's safe around you lot."

"Ron never meant to hit Hermione, it was an accident," Molly said, jumping to the defence of her son.

"He lost his temper and lashed out," Lucius retorted. "I'm not risking it happening again. Until Athena tells us to leave, we're not going anywhere."

"I don't want anyone to leave," Hermione said quietly when all eyes turned to her. "I just want some answers."

"I think the only people who can give us answers are over there," Narcissa remarked, glaring at Lily and Molly. "Although, it will be interesting to hear how two mothers defend kidnapping an innocent child and killing her parents in cold blood."

"We didn't know how Hermione's parents had died until after the event," Lily said quietly. "By then, it was done and there was nothing we could do to change it."

"Not that you would want to change it," Lucius snorted. "You were thrilled the Riddles were dead."

"Of course we were, they were evil people," Molly said fiercely. "We just wanted to give their daughter the best chance in life."

"By kidnapping her and letting her be raised by muggles," Lucius spat in disgust. "She had a family, and you had no right to take her away from it."

"You didn't exactly come forward to look after her," Harry scoffed.

"We thought she was dead," Lucius replied. "We thought she'd perished with her parents in the fire. If we'd known she was alive and where she was, we would have taken her in an instant. She'd should have grown up with us looking after her, she should have grown up with family."

"You knew she wasn't dead," Ron argued. "You've been leading the Death Eaters all year, and they've been searching for her."

Lucius shot Ron a dark look that had the redhead stepping back a few paces. "I do believe I've warned you already about slanderous insults. If you think I'm behind the Death Eater attacks, then prove it. Otherwise shut up before you get into even more trouble."

"More trouble?" Ron frowned. "I'm not in trouble."

"You have just hit an innocent girl," Narcissa said coldly. "And I think your parents are in enough trouble without making things worse for them."

"How exactly are we in trouble?" Molly demanded.

"You've been party to a kidnapping, and for the last seventeen years you've hidden the truth from everyone," Lucius said. "I'm guessing you lot and the entire Order are in a whole world of trouble thanks to your crackpot leader."

"We can worry about that later," Lily said with a shake of the head. "Right now, we need to think about Hermione. Come with us darling, and we can explain the entire thing. I promise, we only want what's best for you."

Lily's suggestion was met with a barrage of protests. The Grangers didn't like the idea of their daughter going with people who'd lied to her, while Lucius and Narcissa were just as disgusted with the idea. However, the loudest protests came from Harry and Ron.

"No way in hell," Ron spat.

"She is not going anywhere with us," Harry insisted. "If she's with you, we won't be coming home at the end of term."

"Harry, honey, be reasonable," Lily said soothingly. "Hermione is hurting here. Her whole life has been turned upside down."

"I don't care," Harry hissed. "It's bad enough you let us befriend her in the first place. But I won't welcome her in our house again. She's the daughter of evil, and I want nothing to do with her."

"The same goes for me," Ron added, glaring hatefully at Hermione. "I hate the fact I nearly married her, and I won't tolerate her in our lives. You have to choose, if you want her, you lose us."

"I'll do the choosing for everyone," Hermione said, speaking up for the first time in a long while. She'd been content to just sit back and watch how things panned out, but now it was time to make her exit. "I want nothing to do with anyone involved with Dumbledore and his Order. The lot of you have done nothing but lie and manipulate me since the moment I met you. I thought you were genuinely good people who were my friends, but I was wrong. You're the worst people I've ever met and I'm done with the lot of you."

"You could come home with us," Narcissa offered kindly. "We can tell you about your parents."

"Is that okay with you?" Hermione asked the Grangers.

"If that's what you want," Jean replied, giving her daughter a smile. "We're so sorry Hermione, we had no idea about your past. We genuinely though we were doing the right thing in raising you."

"Why don't you come back with us as well," Narcissa suggested. "We can all sit down and try and work out where to go from here."

"We would love to Mrs Malfoy," Richard answered.

"Hermione, don't," Molly cried. "Don't trust the Malfoys, they're not good people."

Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow at Molly "As opposed to you lot, who advocate murder and kidnap?"

"Professor McGonagall, I trust you can sort Athena and Draco's belongings and have them sent to us," Lucius said, turning to the newly appointed headmistress.

"I can," McGonagall replied. "But neither Hermione nor Draco have to leave today. There's still another two weeks of school before the end of term."

"I can't stay here Professor McGonagall," Hermione said quietly. "Not after today. I need time to come to terms with everything that's happened."

"I understand," McGonagall nodded sympathetically at Hermione, before turning back to Lucius and Narcissa. "However, I see no need for Draco to leave."

"I do," Narcissa said forcefully. "After today's revelations, I don't think you can guarantee his safety from certain people in your school. His exams are over, meaning he has no need to be here for the next two weeks and as his parents we're insisting he leaves with us."

McGonagall agreed that she couldn't force Draco to stay, and promised that both Hermione and Draco's belongings would be packed up and sent over to the manor later that evening. As Hermione turned to leave with her parents and the Malfoys, she took one last look at the Weasleys and Potters. Both Molly and Lily looked genuinely sorry, but all she got from Harry, Ron and Ginny were hateful stares. When Ginny mouthed the word bitch at her, Hermione turned on her heel and exited the room without looking back.

Her plan to expose Dumbledore and the Order had been a success, now all she had to do was find a way to eliminate Dumbledore. Once he was dead she could really put the past behind her and focus on her future with Draco.


	46. Chapter 46

McGonagall sighed wearily as she made her way to the staff room. After the day she'd had, she could really do without an impromptu Order meeting, but after everything that had happened that day she agreed with Lupin that it was prudent that a selection of the Order met to discuss what had happened and what happened now. However, she'd just spent nearly two hours dealing with both the students and the parents who'd been at the graduation ceremony and she could do without the hassle of the arguments that were bound to take place at the meeting.

When McGonagall entered the staff room, she found she was the last to arrive. Molly and Lily had stayed on to attend the meeting, and Harry and Ron were also present as they'd insisted events affected them more than anyone else. From the staff, Lupin and Snape were present, while Kingsley and Tonks had also turned up. Frank and Alice Longbottom had also remained at Hogwarts to attend the meeting, and McGonagall finished off the small group.

"You look tired, Minerva," Alice said, offering the older witch a kind smile. "Sit down, and I'll get you a cup of tea."

"Thank you Alice," McGonagall said as she slumped down in a chair. "It's been a long day, and I suspect these next few weeks are going to be just as long."

"We can do this another time if you need to get back to your students," Molly offered.

"It's alright, I've arranged for the students to eat in their dorm rooms tonight," McGonagall replied, smiling gratefully at Alice as she handed her a steaming hot cup of tea. "I just want to get this over with. It might help me know what to say when people start asking about Hermione."

"I'm not sure anyone can explain that but Dumbledore," Frank muttered. "What the hell was he thinking?"

"You can't blame Dumbledore," Molly said defensively. "The entire Order agreed that he couldn't be allowed to raise an innocent child."

"We did, and for that I believe we're all at fault," Frank replied. "But Dumbledore was playing with fire allowing her to come to Hogwarts. Especially with the prophecy."

"What prophecy?" Harry asked.

"The prophecy that started all this," Lupin replied, before quickly filling Harry and Ron in on the prophecy that had led them to decide to kidnap Athena as a child.

"And now she's with the Malfoy boy," Alice sighed. "The prophecy is going to come true."

"You don't know that, Alice," Kingsley said.

"It's a strong possibility," Alice retorted. "Dumbledore should have kept her well away from here."

"And if he was insistent on having her here, he should have had the decency to warn people," Frank added.

"What difference would that have made?" Lily asked.

"At least I would have known my son was attending school with Voldemort's daughter," Frank answered. "As it is, we're lucky the poor girl only discovered the truth now. If she'd found out any earlier, she could have been a real danger to everyone."

"Of course she knew earlier," Harry snorted, looking around at the disbelieving faces of the adults. "Look at the facts people. Look at everything that's happened this year. Hermione is behind it, I just know it."

"It's just not possible Harry," Lily said to her son. When she went to put a hand on his arm, he jerked away and a look of hurt flashed over her face.

"Of course it's possible, it's the only thing that makes sense," Harry retorted. "Hermione has been behind everything that's happened this year, and nothing will convince me otherwise."

"She couldn't have known," Molly argued. "The only people who knew were Dumbledore, Arthur and myself, James and Lily and Sirius. I can guarantee, none of us would dream of telling her the truth."

"Someone let something slip," Lupin said quietly. "You saw the memories. Only four people were involved in the death of Voldemort and his wife and the kidnapping of Athena. One of them is responsible for those memories getting out."

"Who?" Tonks asked. "James is dead, Sirius is in Azkaban and Arthur is in St Mungo's. And Dumbledore has been arrested because of the memories, meaning it wasn't likely he shared them with everyone."

"The memories could have been stolen," Ron suggested.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "What we need to look at was how the memories got into the memoir." Turning his head, he glared accusingly at Snape who was sitting over the other side of the room. "And more importantly, who put them there."

"I do hope you're not going to start hurling around unfounded accusations," Severus drawled.

"You were the one helping Hermione put the memories together," Ron said, backing his best friend up. "You could have easily added the extra memories."

"Not to mention everyone knows you're a Death Eater," Harry spat. He'd inherited his hatred of Snape from his father, and the Potions Professor had never done anything to change his view that he was a spy for the dark, not the light.

"Severus is on our side," Lily insisted. "He would never betray us like that."

Severus inclined his head slightly towards his old school friend as a mark of gratitude, but his focus was on her son. "I have never seen those memories before today, and last time I saw the memoir it was in Professor Dumbledore's possession."

"You could have snuck into his office and switched the vials of memories," Harry argued.

"I could have, but unfortunately for you I haven't been in the headmaster's office since that day," Severus said with a smirk. "You can check with the portraits if you don't believe me. Besides, Dumbledore hadn't even put the memories away when I left his office. I have no idea where he kept them."

"Severus is not involved in this," McGonagall stated firmly when Harry opened his mouth to argue yet again. "I can vouch that he left the office before Dumbledore locked the memories away. And I believe him if he says he hasn't been in the office since."

"That still leaves the question as to who tampered with the memories," Kingsley said.

"Could it have been Dumbledore himself?" Frank asked warily, knowing his hypothesis wasn't going to be popular.

As expected, everyone immediately protested the idea. As they all pointed out, he'd ended up arrested so what did he have to gain.

"I don't know," Frank said, addressing the question of why Dumbledore would expose himself as a murderer and a kidnapper. "Maybe he couldn't live with the guilt any longer. Maybe since Hermione was leaving school he felt she should know the truth."

"Dumbledore would never have told her the truth," Molly argued. "The truth has done nothing but create problems."

"I think what we need to do is talk to the three people who could possibly have given their memories, be it willingly or unwillingly," Kingsley said, snapping into Auror mode. "That might give us some answers."

"Do we need to know how and why it happened?" McGonagall asked with a sigh. "It's done now, and nothing can change the outcome. The truth is out there, and we have to deal with the consequences."

"So what? We just let it drop and not do anything?" Harry questioned, jumping to his feet. "You're all going to sit here and let Hermione get away with everything she's done."

"She hasn't done anything, Harry," Lily said exasperatedly. "Just let it go. Haven't you been nasty enough to her today? Hermione was your friend, and you turned on her in an instant when she hadn't done anything."

"The lot of you are fools," Harry declared loudly. "Mark my words, she hasn't finished yet. You'll soon see that protecting her was the worst thing you've ever done. You should have killed her along with her parents."

Casting one final disgusted look at the assembled group, Harry turned on his heel and stormed out of the staff room. Ron quickly jumped up and followed his friend, leaving the remainder of the group sitting in stunned silence.

"I think that's enough for one night," McGonagall said, breaking the silence. "All we can really do is try and deal with the fallout as best we can."

The group all nodded, knowing that they would have to hope that they weren't all dragged down alongside Dumbledore. Dumbledore may have already been arrested, but as everyone knew the entire Order had backed the plan to kidnap Athena. They were all culpable, and as such any one of them could face charges.

"Severus, could you do me a favour?" McGonagall asked the head of Slytherin as people got up and began to exit the room. "Could you take Draco and Hermione's trunks to the Malfoys? I've got a couple of young girls packing Hermione's belongings, I can get it sent to your office when I've checked everything is in order."

"Of course I'll take the luggage," Severus replied. "I've got Blaise and Theo packing Draco's stuff up. I can things sent over to Lucius tonight."

"Thank you," McGonagall smiled gratefully at the wizard, before heading off to oversee the transfer of Hermione's belongings. She would then head to bed and try to forget the day had ever happened.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Hermione sat in the front room at Malfoy Manor, staring into the flames as she listened to her parents talking with Lucius and Narcissa. Since they were still keeping up the act of her just discovering her heritage, Draco was sitting on a different chair over the other side of the room. Hermione would much rather have her boyfriend beside her, but that could wait until after her parents had gone home.

The Grangers had spent the last hour explaining their reasons for not revealing Hermione wasn't truly their daughter, while Lucius and Narcissa had spoken about the Riddles. Hermione was convinced Lucius and Narcissa would soon have her parents convinced that Voldemort and his wife were no danger to anyone if they carried on much longer. Hermione however, knew differently. Yes, her parents had loved her and weren't entirely bad people, but they were dark and her father had some seriously bad ideas regarding muggleborns.

"You hate us, don't you?" Jean sighed, looking over to where Hermione sat. The side of her face when Ron had struck her was starting to bruise, but so far she hadn't allowed anyone to heal her using magic.

"I don't hate you," Hermione whispered, turning to face the couple that had brought her up. "I know you didn't know what Dumbledore had done. I know you thought you were protecting me by taking me in and giving me a home. I know you love me, and I love you, nothing can change that. But I need to stay here and find out about who I truly am. I need to discover more about my parents."

"We understand, sweetheart," Richard said softly. "As long as you know, we're right here when you want to talk to us. You're our daughter, Hermione, and nothing can change that."

"I do have one question," Hermione said. "Who named me Hermione?"

"We did," Jean answered. "We'd been trying to have a child for years, and we always said that if she was a little girl we would call her Hermione. When Albus brought you to us and asked us to raise you, we didn't hesitate in calling you Hermione. You're our daughter, and we couldn't love you any more if you were our own biological daughter."

Hermione couldn't help the tears that started to flow at her mother's words. Even though Lucius had reassured her that her parents truly loved her, it was emotional just to witness how much they actually did love her. The Grangers were furious with Dumbledore on her behalf, and they were determined that he wouldn't be the reason they lost their daughter. Hermione herself wasn't planning on letting that happen either, she loved her parents and still wanted them to be part of her life.

Getting up, Hermione made her way over to where her parents sat and embraced them both. As they were hugging, Hermione heard an elf come into the front room and tell Lucius that Severus was waiting for him in his office. Lucius quickly darted off to see what Severus had to say while Hermione finished up with her parents. Narcissa had already extended an invitation for Hermione to stay with them for a while, and she'd accepted it, so when her parents were ready to go home they did so alone. However, Hermione did promise to speak to her parents the following day and before they left she reassured them that they hadn't lost her. They would still be a part of her life, even though she was finding out more about her biological parents.

By the time Lucius came back from talking to Severus, the Grangers had gone and Hermione was curled up on the sofa next to Draco. Narcissa had also fixed the bruise on her cheek, and everyone was ready to discuss what happened next. Their plan had worked perfectly so far, now they just had to put the finishing touches to it.

"Severus was dropping off your trunks," Lucius said as he sat down next to Narcissa. "I've sent them up to Draco's room, you can sort them when you're ready."

"Did he mention what the reaction was after we'd left?" Hermione questioned.

"Apparently the vast majority of the sympathy is with you," Lucius answered. "Everyone who was at the graduation ceremony and saw the memories are disgusted with Dumbledore. There is a small portion of people, not happy that you were allowed to attend school under an assumed name, but most people think you've been treated appallingly."

"I think we need to try and build on that sympathy," Hermione mused. "Maybe in a few days I could give an interview to a journalist we could have some sway with. I could reiterate how devastating this has all been for me, and point out just how much the Order have betrayed me."

"That can easily be arranged," Lucius said with a nod. "Severus also mentioned there was an Order meeting just before he left school. Most of them are seeing you as the victim, but Potter and Weasley are insistent that you're behind everything that's happened this year."

"Are they going to be a problem?" Narcissa asked with a worried frown.

"They just hate me," Hermione shrugged. "I've listened to them all year, going on about how they were going to kill Athena if they ever found out who she was. It makes sense that they blame me as they've been convinced Athena's been behind it from the beginning."

"If either of those two losers even try and touch you, I'll kill them," Draco snarled menacingly. He was still seething over the fact Weasley had dared to strike Hermione, and if the chance came he was going to make the redhead pay for touching his girlfriend.

"I love it when you get all protective," Hermione purred, smiling seductively at her boyfriend.

Across the room Lucius and Narcissa shared an amused look before Lucius cleared his throat. From the looks of things the two teenagers were about to start ripping each other's clothes off, and they still had a few things to discuss.

"Sorry," Hermione apologised.

"It's alright, I just think we should get sorted here before you two get carried away," Lucius said. "We still have Dumbledore to discuss."

"I still don't know how to get to him," Hermione admitted with a disappointed sigh. "I want him dead, but first I wanted him exposed for what he truly is. I don't want the world to mourn him as some sort of hero."

"Luckily, I have a plan all in place for Dumbledore," Lucius smirked. "Providing of course, you're acceptable to my plans."

"I'm listening," Hermione said. "And I'm guessing this is why you were so insistent he was arrested."

"It was," Lucius confirmed with a nod. "At the Ministry is exactly where I want him. From there, I can guarantee we can kill him and no blame will be apportioned to you."

Hermione, Draco and Narcissa all listened eagerly as Lucius explained his plan. When he was finished everyone was thrilled with the plan. It was perfect. Dumbledore would soon be dead, and Hermione would be free to live her life.


	47. Chapter 47

As expected, the main topic of conversation at Hogwarts following graduation was Hermione and Dumbledore. The entire school was in shock and almost everyone had an opinion on the matter. Unfortunately for Harry and Ron, the only person to share their opinion that Hermione had been using them all along was Ginny. A few people admitted they were wary about the fact they'd been attending school alongside Voldemort's daughter, but no-one believed she was behind events of the past year. The common consensus was that Hermione was completely innocent and Dumbledore had been the one in the wrong by manipulating her since she was a baby.

After a few days of trying to convince people that Hermione was trouble, Harry and Ron gave up and decided to keep their opinions to themselves. However, in the privacy of their dorm room they began making plans for after they'd left school. The rest of the Order may have been prepared to stand back and let Hermione leave without any retribution, but they weren't. They would find a way to get her back for all the suffering she'd caused, even if they hadn't yet got a solid plan on how to get near to her.

A couple of days before the end of term, Harry and Ron were in their room trying to make plans on how to deal with Hermione. So far since graduation she hadn't been seen or heard from, but it was assumed she was still with the Malfoys. The boys knew that both Molly and Lily had tried going to see the Grangers, but they were turned away by the couple.

"We have to draw her out," Ron said. "We're never going to get near to her if she's at Malfoy Manor."

"I've been thinking about that," Harry replied seriously. "I think we need to play along with her act of innocence. We should write to her and apologise. We can say we were just shocked, but now we've had time to think we're sorry for overreacting."

Ron looked at his friend as though he'd lost his mind. "You want us to forgive her?"

"I said we need to play along," Harry said. "If she believes we're genuinely sorry she might agree to meet us. Then we can grab her and do what should have been done years ago."

"Will she fall for that?" Ron queried. "She's not stupid, Harry. No matter what we think of her, we both know she's not an idiot. One letter won't get her to come running."

"I'm sure it won't, but she might give in if she sees us accepting we were wrong," Harry said. "We have to convince everyone that we've accepted what everyone thinks."

"That won't be easy," Ron cautioned. "We've been pretty vocal about our opinions. It's also going to take a long time to convince people we're genuine. It could be months before we get to Hermione."

"I know," Harry said with a resigned sigh. "That's the only problem I can think of. It's a pretty long term plan."

"I'm sure we can manage a few months of acting," Ron replied.

Harry nodded in agreement, but he didn't get a chance to reply before the door burst open and a breathless Ginny flew into the room clutching a newspaper in her hands.

"What's up Gin?" Ron asked.

All the bad feeling between the two siblings was long gone as they'd all decided Hermione was behind Ginny's slip with the two Slytherins. Ginny was convinced she'd been slipped some sort of lust potion to get her to act that way and Harry and Ron whole heartedly agreed with her.

"The paper," Ginny said, thrusting the paper towards her brother and his friend. "Take a look at page six."

Harry laid the paper onto the bed and flipped to page six. Together Harry and Ron stared down at the double page spread all about Hermione. It would seem their former friend had broken her silence and spoken to the media. Unfortunately she was less than complimentary about the Order and how in her opinion they betrayed her. Ron even got a specific mention as she spoke about how heartbroken she was to be rejected by the wizard she thought she was going to marry.

"That bitch," Ron spat. "She makes us all look evil."

"What are we going to do about it?" Ginny asked. "We can't just let her go around saying these things. If she keeps this up poor Dumbledore will be sent to Azkaban without a fair trial. She'll turn everyone against us."

"Harry and I have a plan," Ron said, confiding in her sister about how they planned to get close to Hermione and pay her back for everything she'd done to them.

"Wow, are you sure you can pull that off?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "But I think before we make any firm plans we need to speak to Dumbledore. No-one else believes us, but he might."

"How are we going to see him?" Ron asked. "He's locked up at the Ministry awaiting trial."

"I'm going to go and see Lupin and see if he can organise for me to go and visit Dumbledore," Harry answered. "Hopefully Kingsley can pull some strings and get me in to see him."

"And what happens if Dumbledore is just like everyone else?" Ginny asked. "What if he also refuses to believe Hermione was behind everything."

"Then we press on with our plan and we'll deal with Hermione ourselves," Harry answered. "Either way, she's not going to get away with this. She needs to pay, and we're going to make sure she does just that."

 _ **G.O.V.**_

In the library of Malfoy Manor, Hermione lay with her head in Draco's lap as she supposedly read a book. Draco was engrossed in his own book, but Hermione hadn't turned a page in ages. Instead her mind was whirling with thoughts of Dumbledore. She was anxious to kill him and move on, but Lucius kept urging her to be patient.

"Ugh, this is so annoying," Hermione groaned, dropping the book to the floor. "When can we dispose of Dumbledore?"

"Father promised he would let us know when the time is right to move," Draco reassured his girlfriend as he gently placed his own book down beside him.

"I know, but I'm getting impatient," Hermione huffed.

"Maybe I can help distract you," Draco said, grinning down at his girlfriend.

Hermione grinned back up at Draco, as she pulled his head down and connected their lips. The couple were just getting into the mood and Draco's hand had just slipped under Hermione's top when Lucius entered the library. Coughing lightly, Lucius couldn't help but chuckle when the couple pulled apart guiltily.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have some news," Lucius said. "Come through to the front room so we can talk."

Hermione and Draco followed Lucius through to the front room where they found Narcissa and Severus sitting waiting for them. Narcissa had a tray of tea sitting on the coffee table and she poured everyone a cup as they settled down.

"What's the news?" Hermione asked. "Is it to do with Dumbledore?"

"It is," Lucius confirmed. "The time is right to strike."

Hermione grinned wickedly and the three adults in the room were all reminded of Voldemort. "Finally. So what's the plan?"

"As I mentioned, we're going to use a slow acting poison on Dumbledore," Lucius said. "You and I will pay Dumbledore a visit next week and infect him. By the time he dies, it'll be hours later and we'll be back here. In fact, I was thinking we could hold a small party that evening, just to welcome you back to where you belong."

"What's made you suddenly decide we can move next week?" Draco asked. "Dumbledore's been at the Ministry for nearly a fortnight. You could have killed him days ago."

"We could have, but next week Potter is going to visit Dumbledore," Lucius explained. "We are going to go and see him on the morning and Potter will see him in the afternoon. We all know Potter will try and blame Athena for Dumbledore's death, but his arguments won't hold up if he's seen him after our visit. Especially since we're going to have a solid alibi for the time of Dumbledore's death in the form of a party, with guests including the Minister himself."

"That's very crafty, Lucius," Hermione grinned. She could just imagine how annoyed Harry would be to find he'd seen Dumbledore after she had and that the former headmaster was perfectly fine during his visit.

"What about this poison?" Draco asked. "Surely it'll be detected after Dumbledore is dead."

"The poison's undetectable," Severus said. Lucius had discussed the plan with him and he'd recommended a slow acting, undetectable poison. "It works its way slowly through a person's system until the end result is heart failure. No-one will be able to tell he was poisoned."

"So how do we administer the poison?" Hermione asked.

"That is the tricky part," Severus admitted with a grimace. "The potion can be administered either by indigestion or skin contact. We're not going to be able to slip the poison into Dumbledore's food or drink, but we can transfer it to his skin."

"How?" Hermione demanded. She liked the idea, but she needed to know exactly how it was going to go.

"Severus is going to prepare a capsule for me," Lucius said. "I'll keep it in my pocket and when the time is right, I'll crush it in the palm of my hands. All I have to do is then touch Dumbledore's skin."

"Hold on, it sounds like you'll be handling the poison yourself," Narcissa said, glaring at her husband. "Unless of course you're planning on wearing gloves."

"Gloves will look a bit conspicuous in this weather," Lucius chuckled.

"Lucius," Narcissa warned in a stern voice. "Tell me you're not going to handle the potion yourself."

"Severus is preparing the antidote," Lucius reassured his family.

"I promise you Narcissa, there will be no danger to Lucius," Severus promised. "As soon as he leaves the Ministry, I'll be waiting to administer the antidote. The antidote can be administered for up to six hours after contact with the poison, but if it's done within the hour there'll be no side effects whatsoever."

"What happens if it's not done within the hour?" Narcissa demanded.

"That varied based on individual people, but health problems can become an issue," Severus admitted. "However, I see no reason why Lucius would be exposed to the poison for more than an hour. And even if he is, he's fairly young and he's healthy. Any problems he would suffer would be pretty minor."

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow this to happen," Narcissa said. Turning to Hermione she gave the younger witch a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry Athena, I know you want vengeance but I can't let you risk my husband's life."

"I quite agree, Narcissa," Hermione said. "Lucius will not be risking his life. He's not touching the poison."

"I thought you wanted rid of Dumbledore," Lucius said in a tight voice. He wasn't very impressed to be overruled by both Narcissa and Hermione, not when he'd spent so many hours devising the plan.

"I do," Hermione said. "And I think the plan is ingenious. We're going ahead with it, only it'll be me infecting Dumbledore. I'll be the one taking the risk."

"No way," Draco exploded as Lucius, Narcissa and Severus all expressed their disapproval at the same time.

"There will be no arguments," Hermione announced forcefully. "If it's safe for Lucius to take the risk, it's safe for me. We can get back to Severus within the hour, and I'm younger than Lucius so the risks should be even less for me."

"I don't like it," Draco pouted. He knew better than to argue with his girlfriend in front of his parents and Severus, but he definitely going to try and talk some sense into her when they were alone.

"I have to do this," Hermione said quietly. "He killed my father, and I have to get rid of him. I let Lucius deal with James, but now it's my turn. Dumbledore was the ringleader behind this entire scheme, and he deserves to be punished. Without him, this never would have happened."

"If you're sure, then I guess we just need to plan things perfectly," Lucius remarked.

"Thank you," Hermione said to Lucius, smiling at the older wizard in appreciation of his backing.

Lucius smiled back at Hermione, and the discussion got underway to make sure Hermione was exposed to the poison for as little time as possible. Throughout the discussion Draco remained pretty quiet, but the more they discussed the plan the more he could see how much it meant for Hermione to be the one to the kill Dumbledore. It didn't mean he approved of Hermione taking the risk of exposing herself to the poison, but he decided it wasn't worth arguing over. What they had to focus on was making sure Hermione received the antidote within the hour, if they did that then there was no need for worries. Everything would be fine and Dumbledore would be no more.


	48. Chapter 48

Draco sat on the edge of his bed, sulkily watching Hermione get ready. It was always a wrench when she got out of his bed, but it was especially hard this morning as he knew she was also leaving the manor for the first time since graduation. Technically, she had left the manor to visit her parents, but this would be her first appearance in the wizarding world since her true identity was exposed. Even the interview she'd give to a journalist friend of Lucius's had been conducted at the manor with Lucius at her side the entire time.

"Don't look so worried, I'll be fine," Hermione said, throwing Draco a reassuring glace over her shoulder as she pulled on her shoes.

"You can't guarantee that," Draco muttered moodily. "Firstly, you're going to see a man who murdered your parents, kidnapped you and manipulated your life for years. And secondly, you're planning on exposing yourself to a deadly poison so you can kill Dumbledore. Anything could go wrong and I could end up losing you."

Finishing with her shoes, Hermione walked over to Draco and stood in front of her. Wrapping her arms loosely around his neck, she bent over and lightly brushed her lips over his.

"You won't lose me," she promised. "I'll come back to you, and tonight we'll attend your parent's party together. Then once we're sure Dumbledore is dead, we can have that break we've been talking about. Just you, me and a deserted island somewhere."

"That sounds good," Draco said, making the effort to smile. He knew he would be a bag of nerves until his girlfriend returned and received the antidote, but he could at least put on a good pretence of not worrying.

"Don't worry Draco, nothing can tear us apart," Hermione vowed, leaning down and connecting their lips with a bit more force.

Draco hungrily kissed Hermione back, before the couple had to part in order to breathe. "I love you, Hermione," he whispered.

Even though she'd initially decided to drop Hermione and go back to being Athena, she'd changed her mind after speaking to her parents. Hermione had made it clear that she didn't object to people calling her Athena, but she was keeping the name Hermione. After all it was the name she'd been using for all these years, and more importantly it was the name the Grangers gave her when they accepted her as their daughter.

"I love you too," Hermione returned with a smile. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You just concentrate on helping your mother organise the party."

"My friends will be there and they're going to be asking questions," Draco warned as the couple made their way out of Draco's bedroom and towards the main staircase. "Blaise and Theo aren't going to believe that I didn't know who you truly were, not after the help they gave me setting up the Weaselette."

"As long as they can be trusted implicitly we can tell them the truth," Hermione decided. "I don't mind them knowing providing they won't tell another soul. Other than that, everyone else has to think I've only just discovered my true identity. That means, hands off at the party. We can't be seen to be over friendly with one another."

"I'll just make up for it later on when we're alone," Draco grinned. Talking about the party was a good way of taking his mind off the danger Hermione was putting herself in, but unfortunately the distraction didn't last long as the couple entered the front room to find everyone waiting for them.

"Are you ready?" Lucius asked. "If you're not sure, I can do the poison."

"No, I'm doing it," Hermione insisted before she turned to Severus. "Do you have the capsule?"

Severus carefully handed her a small clear capsule in a little box. "When you're ready slide the capsule out of the box and place it on your hand. Minimum pressure will cause it to explode, releasing the poison."

"Will I be able to feel it to know it's worked?" Hermione checked as she carefully put the box into her pocket. She knew the box was a precaution so that the capsule didn't explode in her pocket.

"No, you'll not be able to feel anything on your skin," Severus said. "But you'll be able to tell that the capsule is gone. The poison won't be visible, so you don't have to worry about anyone spotting the transference to Dumbledore."

"But I have to transfer it quickly after breaking the capsule?" Hermione checked.

Severus nodded in reply. "Yes. The poison will be on the top of your skin for less than five minutes before it begins to be absorbed. Once it's fully absorbed, you can't transfer it to someone else."

Hermione nodded in understanding as Lucius announced it was time to leave. With good luck wishes and the promise that the antidote would be waiting when they returned, Hermione took a deep breath and followed Lucius through the floo network to the Ministry of Magic.

Arriving at the Ministry, Hermione immediately felt everyone watching her. Holding her head up high and ignoring the gossips she walked alongside Lucius as they headed for the golden lifts at the far side of the atrium. Lucius connections within the Ministry allowed them free roam of the Ministry and Hermione was amazed that not one person stopped Lucius and asked him what he was doing. Instead Lucius was left alone as he summoned a lift and escorted Hermione inside.

When they stepped out of the lift, Hermione looked up and down the long dark corridors. Somehow, this wasn't quite how she pictured the Ministry. She'd imagined offices and people scurrying about doing their jobs, but all she could see was black hallways and no sign of any staff.

"We're in the Department of Mysteries," Lucius informed her, turning to his right and striding down the deserted corridor. "Among other things, this is where the courtrooms and holding cells are located."

Nodding in understanding, Hermione quietly followed Lucius down the long corridor and through a door at the end. When they went through the door, the place suddenly changed and they were no longer in a dark foreboding place. They'd entered a pale room, with several doors leading off from the room. Beside one of the doors stood Cornelius Fudge, who immediately stepped forward to greet Lucius.

"Thank you for this, Cornelius," Lucius said, shaking the Minister's hand. "We're very grateful for you allowing this visit."

"It will have to be brief, I'm afraid," Fudge said to Lucius, before turning his attention to Hermione. "Miss Riddle, how nice to meet you. How are you dealing with things?"

"It's all rather surreal. But the Malfoys have been amazing to me. They're really helping me accept who I am," Hermione replied. She'd been able to draw on her real experiences of discovering the truth during the last few weeks when she'd had to act as though the news of her parentage was new information.

"Hopefully this visit will allow Athena to deal with Dumbledore's duplicity and move on with her life," Lucius said. "At least that's the aim."

"And a good aim it is," Fudge said with an agreeable nod. "I think putting the past behind you and moving on is the best way."

Hermione murmured an agreement as she impatiently waited for Fudge to step aside so they could speak to Dumbledore. Luckily Fudge didn't chat any more before he led them over to the door he'd been standing beside and opened it. The Minister led the way into the room, which was plain white and contained a basic table and four chairs. Dumbledore was already sitting in one of the chairs and two Aurors hovered watchfully behind him.

"The Aurors have to stay," Fudge said. "But I'll just be outside if you need me."

As Fudge left and Lucius ushered her into a seat opposite Dumbledore, Hermione understood why skin to skin contact was the only way to administer the potion. Between the room being devoid of anything other than the table and chairs and the constant presence of the Aurors it would be impossible to poison Dumbledore any other way.

"Hermione," Dumbledore said quietly, inclining his head towards the young witch.

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione replied, allowing her voice to tremble ever so slightly. Her act had to remain in place and it might look suspicious if she was too calm while talking to the former headmaster.

"I don't think you need call me Professor anymore," Dumbledore chuckled humourlessly. "My teaching days are long gone."

"And quite right too," Lucius snapped.

Dumbledore gave Lucius a withering look and for a minute Hermione thought he was going to argue back. However he merely looked at Lucius for several minutes, before turning his attention to Hermione.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

"I want some answers," Hermione replied. "I want to hear why you thought you had the right to murder two people and kidnap an innocent child. I want to know what gave you and your precious Order the right to play god with my life."

Dumbledore sighed wearily as he clasped his hands together on the table top. "I'm not sure you can ever fully understand, Hermione. We were in the middle of a war. Your father and his supporters were tearing the wizarding world apart. He had to be stopped."

"But why do it the way you did?" Hermione questioned. She had mixed feelings on the war, and she knew she couldn't justify her father's persecution of muggleborns, but on the other hand she couldn't justify Dumbledore murdering him in cold blood either. "Why not fight my father and prevail in battle?"

"I'd fought your father many a time and had never been able to defeat him," Dumbledore admitted and Hermione got the feeling the admission embarrassed the old wizard. "Tom was a very talented wizard, with exceptional skills. He was gifted from a young age and as he grew so did his powers. He was virtually unstoppable in a fight of any sort."

"So you decided to take him out when he was sleeping," Hermione stated.

"We decided to take you, killing your father was an added bonus," Dumbledore replied.

"Why did you want to take me?" Hermione asked. "What had I ever done to you? Or anyone else for that matter. I was just a child, and innocent child."

"We couldn't risk you being brought up by Voldemort," Dumbledore answered. "He was an evil man, Hermione. And with him as a father, you would have been evil as well."

"You have no right to judge anyone as being evil," Lucius hissed. Even though he'd agreed to sit back and let Hermione take control, he couldn't help but stick up for the man who he'd once fought for. "You're not exactly squeaky clean yourself, old man."

"People in glass houses, Lucius," Dumbledore retorted. "You're not so innocent yourself."

"Stop it the pair of you," Hermione said in a low hiss. "This is about me finding out the truth, not about you two sniping at each other."

"I've told you the truth," Dumbledore said. "You know all there is to know."

"No I don't," Hermione replied, shaking her head as she did so. "Why didn't they wake up and fight?" she asked. "If those memories I saw were true, they remained in bed while there were intruders on the property. Why didn't they wake, and why didn't any wards alert them you were there?"

"Earlier that day I'd arranged for a mild sleeping draught to be placed in a joint of meat your parents had ordered from a butcher. That ensured your parents would sleep through the entire thing," Dumbledore said. "Because they were asleep, they failed to notice any warning signs the wards emitted as I disabled them."

Hermione stared at Dumbledore in disgust as she reached into her jacket pocket and slipped the capsule out of the box. Placing it into the palm of her hand, she balled her hand into a fist and squashed the capsule in her hand. Satisfied the capsule was gone, Hermione pulled her hand back out of her packet.

"You're not even sorry are you?" she demanded, letting her anger and disgust show both in her voice and on her face.

"I'm sorry you ended up hurt, but I don't regret what happened to your father," Dumbledore admitted.

"You're a foul, horrid little man," Hermione spat as she got to her feet. "I hope you rot in Azkaban for what you've done."

Reacting quickly before either of the Aurors could stop her, Hermione raised her hand and slapped Dumbledore across the cheek with all the force she could muster. The sound of the strike echoed around the room and Dumbledore's head snapped back due to the sheer force of Hermione's slap. Immediately the Aurors jumped forward to prevent anything further happening, but Lucius gently put his arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her away from the table.

"I think we're done here," Lucius murmured quietly.

"Yes we are," Hermione said, watching as Dumbledore brushed the Aurors off him and focused his attention back on her. "We're done here, and I won't be returning."

Giving Dumbledore one final glare, Hermione turned on her heel and stalked out the door with Lucius at her side. Lucius briefly spoke to Fudge, but was able to quickly brush the Minister off as he claimed Hermione was upset after her visit with Dumbledore. Reminding Fudge not to forget the party that evening, Lucius took hold of Hermione's arm and quickly escorted her through the Ministry and towards the fires in the atrium.

The second they arrived back at the manor, Severus produced the antidote and made Hermione drown the entire contents of a small bottle. Once the antidote had been administered, Severus ran a few tests to ensure that all the poison was out of Hermione's system. The second Severus gave her the all clear, Draco surged forward and pulled his girlfriend into his arms.

"Never do anything like that again," he whispered in her ear.

"I won't need to," Hermione replied. "It worked. I made sure Dumbledore came into contact with the poison."

"Tell us all about it," Narcissa said, urging Hermione to take a seat. "We've still got a while before we need to get ready for the party."

Settling down on the sofa beside Draco, Hermione proceeded to repeat what had happened at the Ministry. Lucius added his opinion every now and again, and he was practically giddy when he described Hermione giving Dumbledore a good slap. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the thought of Dumbledore getting what he deserved. Now all they had to do was sit back and wait for news of his death to reach them. But before that they had a party to attend, and everyone intended to have fun. With Dumbledore sorted they could look to the future, and the party was the first step to moving on and forgetting the past.


	49. Chapter 49

Harry and Ron arrived at the Ministry well over an hour after Hermione and Lucius had departed. Looking around the atrium, they quickly spotted Kingsley waiting for them beside the lifts. Making their way over to the Auror, both teenagers thanked Kingsley for getting them in to see Dumbledore.

"We can't stay very long," Kingsley said as the trio entered the lift. "Visits to people awaiting trial are always brief, but especially when there's more than one visit scheduled on the same day."

"Who else is coming to see Dumbledore?" Harry asked, wondering if it was someone in the Order planning on visiting the headmaster.

"He had a visitor this morning. Hermione came to see him," Kingsley answered, making sure he took extra notice of the pair's reaction when he dropped the bombshell of who had visited Dumbledore. Kingsley had fully expected the pair to explode in anger, but neither of them reacted to the news that Hermione had been at the Ministry.

When the lift stopped in the Department of the Mysteries, Kingsley led Harry and Ron down the long corridors that would lead them to the visiting rooms. Kingsley led the way into the antechamber, before opening a door to reveal Dumbledore sitting at the table in the sparse room. Behind Dumbledore were two Aurors, who exited the room when Kingsley nodded to them.

"You've got ten minutes," Kingsley said, leaning against the wall to oversee the visit.

"Harry, Ron. It's good to see you," Dumbledore said, smiling at the two teenagers.

"Professor Dumbledore, how are you?" Harry asked as he and Ron settled in the seats opposite Dumbledore.

"I'm fine," Dumbledore replied. "How are you two?"

"We're okay," Ron replied.

"I assume you have a reason to come and see me," Dumbledore said.

"It's about Hermione," Harry said, glancing warily over at Kingsley. Even though they wanted to talk to Dumbledore about Hermione, they didn't want to reveal how they really felt in front of anyone from the Order since they were still preparing to go ahead with their plan to make it look as they accepted Hermione was innocent.

"I'm not going anywhere, Harry," Kingsley said, noticing the look Harry shot his way. "I have to be in the room for legal purposes, unless of course you want me to go and get the other two Aurors."

"Harry, you can speak in front of Kingsley," Dumbledore said.

Harry let out a resigned sigh. "We don't trust her. We don't believe she didn't know what was going on."

"Yeah, we think she was behind everything that's happened this year. Including events at graduation," Ron added.

"I can promise you, she wasn't," Dumbledore said. "Hermione did not know who she truly was before graduation. I'm not stupid, I've kept a close eye on her over the years."

"But she's been in touch with Malfoy all these years," Harry argued. "They could have been working together for ages."

"I can assure you, Hermione has had no suspicious contact with Draco over the years," Dumbledore said firmly. "Until graduation she was in the dark about her true identity."

"I still don't like it," Harry muttered. "It all seems too suspicious to me. She was in the perfect place to orchestrate the entire thing."

"Harry, you have to stop thinking like that," Dumbledore said. "You shouldn't be turning on Hermione, you should be helping her. She's been your friend for seven years, and now she needs your help."

"How does she need our help?" Ron asked with a disbelieving snort.

"I've come to realise I made a huge mistake in allowing her to attend Hogwarts," Dumbledore admitted with a sigh. "It was too dangerous to let her come into contact with Draco."

"Because of the prophecy?" Harry asked. "The Order told us about it," he added at Dumbledore's confused expression.

"Yes, because of the prophecy," Dumbledore answered. "I know Hermione's hasn't had any contact with Draco over the years, but now she has contact with him and she's angry over everything that's happened. We need to be careful, she could be pushed into doing something she regrets."

"You think she could team up with Malfoy and wage war on the Order," Harry said, understanding what Dumbledore was worried about.

"I think it's a possibility, but only because she's so hurt and angry," Dumbledore said. "She feels betrayed by me and the Order, and I wouldn't put it past Lucius Malfoy to use recent events to manipulate Hermione into embracing her dark side. You need to save her from the Malfoys. You need to get past who her father is, and see the witch she truly is. Hermione isn't evil, deep down you know that. Think back on your friendship, and do the right thing. Save Hermione before it's too late for everyone."

Dumbledore's words heralded the end of the meeting. Poking his head out of the door, Kingsley summoned the two Aurors back into the room as Harry and Ron said their goodbyes to Dumbledore. Leaving Dumbledore in the care of the two Aurors, Kingsley led Harry and Ron back up to the atrium.

"What's going to happen to Dumbledore now?" Harry asked Kingsley as they arrived in the atrium.

"His trial will be taking place in the next few weeks, but he's not going to escape a custodial sentence," Kingsley told the pair. "I'm sorry. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth."

"We expected as much," Harry admitted with a sigh. Even though he personally didn't think Dumbledore deserved to be in Azkaban, he knew that he would end up in prison.

"Promise me one thing," Kingsley said to the pair as he walked them over to the fireplaces so they could go home. "Think about what Dumbledore said. None of this is Hermione's fault, and she could now be in danger. Do the right thing, not just for Hermione, but for everyone."

"We promise not to act too rashly," Harry vowed.

Saying goodbye to Kingsley, the pair flooed back to Harry's house which was where Ron was staying for a few days. Arriving at Harry's house there was no sign of Lily as the pair grabbed a snack and headed up to Harry's room.

"You don't really believe all the rubbish about Hermione being in danger, do you?" Ron queried.

"Of course not," Harry snorted. "You and I both know she's the mastermind behind everything. However, I still think our original plan is the way to go. We can even convince the rest of the Order our change of hearts was a result of talking to Dumbledore."

"So we're going to play the long game," Ron said.

"We are," Harry agreed with a nod. "We're going to play the long game and we're going to eliminate Hermione. Dumbledore was right about one thing, with the Malfoys she's dangerous. We need to take her out before she gets a chance to cause any more trouble."

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Adjusting her dress, Hermione followed Draco into one of the rarely used rooms at the manor. The party was due to start in under half an hour, but Draco had invited his friends over early so they could all talk. Hermione was allowing him to tell Theo and Blaise the truth, but she didn't want it being done at the party. She wanted everything sorted before then so that Blaise and Theo acted the way they would be expected to act at the party.

When they entered the room they found Blaise and Theo already waiting for them. Draco greeted his friends while both Blaise and Theo gave Hermione curious looks. It was clear the pair were still puzzled by what exactly was going on. They knew everything wasn't as it seemed, but they didn't quite know what exactly was going on.

"Sit down boys," Draco ordered.

Hermione chuckled as Blaise and Theo did what Draco asked without question. Once Blaise and Theo were seated, Draco sat down on a sofa and pulled Hermione down next to him. Entwining his hand with Hermione, Draco turned to his friends.

"I'm guessing you have some questions," he said.

"Just a few," Theo muttered, looking at the pair's joined hands.

"Although it's very clear not everything is like it was portrayed at graduation," Blaise remarked.

"The truth is Hermione and I got together years ago," Draco explained. "Last summer we arranged to tell my parents about us. We fully expected them to be unhappy about the situation, what we weren't expecting was for the truth to be revealed."

"That Hermione was really Athena," Blaise concluded.

"Once I knew the truth, I asked Lucius to find out what happened the night my parents died," Hermione said, taking up the story. "You saw the memories, and know exactly what we discovered."

"All this stuff that's been happening this year, it's been you," Theo declared, looking at Hermione in admiration. He didn't know the witch had it in her to be so deceptive.

"It has," Hermione confirmed. "I've set out to destroy the lives of everyone involved in my kidnapping and my parent's murders. And I also just want to thank you for your help."

"We didn't do much," Theo said with a shrug.

"Yeah, if we'd known the truth we could have helped more," Blaise added.

"I appreciate the offer, but after today I'm finished," Hermione replied. "My vengeance is complete."

"What's happened today?" Theo asked.

"Today I've completed the final stage of my revenge," Hermione answered. "I've gotten rid of Dumbledore."

"He's dead," Blaise gasped.

"Not yet, but he soon will be," Hermione replied as she stood up and smoothed down her long dress. "I'm sure we can go into details at a later date, but right now we have a party to attend."

"And remember you know nothing about this," Draco cautioned his friends. "As far as you know Hermione has just discovered the truth and she's just learning about her family. Make sure you don't acknowledge our relationship. As far as everyone else in concerned we don't have one yet."

"What do you mean, yet?" Theo asked as the group made their way to the door of the room they were using.

"Hermione and I were bonded as children," Draco said. "Luckily we've already got a pre-existing relationship, but even if we hadn't we would end up together."

Making one final check that Theo and Blaise wouldn't let their secret slip, Draco and Hermione led the way into the ballroom where the main body of the party was being held. A few guests had already arrived and almost as soon as they entered the room, Narcissa hurried over and commandeered Hermione's attention. While Narcissa took Hermione off to meet some people, Draco and his friends headed off to see if anyone else they knew had arrived.

As the crowds grew, Hermione remained close to Narcissa and occasionally Lucius. She spoke to Draco a couple of times, but it had been decided that it would be better if she stuck close to his parents as she was supposed to still be adjusting to life as Athena Riddle. Hermione was surprised that most people were really pleasant towards her, even those people she thought might resent her for being the daughter of Lord Voldemort.

"What do you think?" Narcissa asked as the pair took a breather on the terrace outside of the ballroom. "You're not too overwhelmed, are you?"

"It is slightly overwhelming, but I'm coping," Hermione replied. "I had no idea you and Lucius were so well connected." Even all of Draco's bragging in his younger days hadn't prepared her for the influence his family had in the wizarding world.

"We're from two of the oldest families in the wizarding community," Narcissa replied. "A small portion of society think we're nothing more than Death Eaters, but the vast majority of people know the truth. Being supporters of your father is just one of the many things we are, we're also avid supporters of various charitable organisations and Lucius is a well-respected businessman."

"Well the turnout is amazing," Hermione said. "I've received so much support from people."

"Dumbledore isn't as popular as the Order like to believe," Narcissa said. "A lot of people think he wants nothing more than power and influence in the wizarding community. Over the years he's managed to achieve his goals by becoming headmaster at Hogwarts while still having his voice heard at the Ministry. Luckily, those days are well gone."

Hermione smirked as she thought just how long gone Dumbledore's days of power were. Within a few hours, his whole life would be over, not just his life as a powerful and influential wizard.

"Come on, let's get back to the party," Narcissa said, taking hold of Hermione's arm and guiding her back inside.

Inside the ballroom, Hermione continued her circulation with Narcissa. Lucius joined them as they chatted to Severus and a couple of Ministry officials. As expected the topic of Dumbledore came up and Hermione expressed her relief when one of the Ministry officials reassured her that Dumbledore would be going to Azkaban for the rest of his life. As the conversation with Dumbledore was drawing to a close, Fudge came up to the group and pulled Lucius off to one side.

"I'm sorry to dash Lucius, but I've just had word of a crisis at the Ministry," Fudge said.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Lucius asked helpfully.

"I don't know, I just received the emergency signal from my wand," Fudge replied. "I've got to go, but I'll let you know if I need your help. Say goodbye to Miss Riddle for me, and let her know if she ever needs anything the Ministry will be happy to help."

Smirking to himself, Lucius watched as Fudge made a hasty departure. When he turned back to Hermione, he found her, Narcissa and Severus all watching him intently. The other ministry officials had wandered off, but it was clear the trio had overheard every word exchanged between him and the Minister.

"I would say our day has been a success," Lucius said with a self-satisfied smirk.

"So it would seem," Hermione replied. "Now let's enjoy the remainder of the party."


	50. Chapter 50

Harry and Ron flew around the back garden of Harry's house, racing one another up and down the garden. Now they'd left school they had to think about their futures and both boys harboured ambitions to play quidditch professionally. They'd agreed to attend an open trial together the following week, and if they failed to secure contracts with a team they would sign up at the Ministry to become Aurors.

However, no matter which direction their careers took them in they were determined to bring down Hermione. After visiting Dumbledore the previous afternoon, they'd discussed things in detail and decided to let everyone think Dumbledore had talked some sense into them. They were also planning on putting their plan into operation regarding Hermione and drawing her out of Malfoy Manor. However, they were both putting off writing to Hermione as they weren't sure what to say.

Coming to a stop at the bottom of the garden, the pair jumped off their brooms and collapsed onto the grass. As they lay on the grass they ran over a few things they could include in the letter to Hermione. They knew that first of all they had to apologise for everything that had happened at graduation. They also knew that they didn't want to mention meeting up straight away. What they needed to do was establish contact and begin building bridges before they tried to coax her out into the open.

"I guess we should go and start composing a letter," Harry said with a sigh.

"We might as well," Ron agreed. "It's going to take us days to get it right."

Picking up their brooms, Harry and Ron trudged back up the garden and entered the house. The second they entered the kitchen they knew something was wrong. Molly was sitting with Lily at the kitchen table and both women looked to have been crying.

"What's wrong?" Ron demanded. "Is Dad okay?"

"Your father's fine," Molly reassured Ron. "And so is the rest of the family," she added when Ron opened his mouth to check on everyone else.

"So why have the pair of you been crying?" Harry asked. "What's going on?"

"Sit down, we have something to tell you both," Lily said gently.

Harry and Ron exchanged a worried look as they sat down at the kitchen table.

"We're sorry to have to tell you this but Dumbledore is dead," Molly said, choking back a loud sob as she said the words out loud.

"Dead." Harry repeated in shock. "How?"

"He was found late last night," Lily said, tears openly running down her face. "His heart had given way."

"It's all the stress of these last few weeks," Molly said sadly. "He just couldn't cope with being locked up and knowing he wasn't ever going to be free again."

"But he was pretty healthy for his age," Ron said quietly. He was thinking back to yesterday and the fact Hermione had visited him and he had no doubt that Harry's mind had gone in the same direction.

"He was, but he was still an old man, Ron," Molly said. "All this stress of being locked up wasn't good for him."

"Maybe it's better this way," Lily sighed. "I'm sure this is better than him being stuck in Azkaban for the rest of his life."

Molly nodded her agreement, and even though they both felt Hermione had been behind Dumbledore's untimely death, Harry and Ron couldn't help but partly agree. Spending the remainder of his life in Azkaban would have destroyed Dumbledore, but at least now he was spared the indignity of becoming a prisoner in the tough wizarding prison.

"When will his funeral be held?" Harry asked.

"Sometime this week I would think," Lily answered. "Don't worry, we'll keep you up to date with everything that's going on. We won't miss the funeral."

"Thanks," Harry said quietly as he got to his feet. "Ron and I are just heading up to my room for a bit."

"Okay, I'll call you when lunch is ready," Lily said, watching with a sad expression as her son and his best friend wearily trooped out of the kitchen.

Harry and Ron headed up to Harry's room in silence, but the second they entered the room and the door was shut behind them, Harry whipped out his wand and cast a silencing spell around the room. With the room silenced, he threw his broom into the corner and let out a loud cry of anguish.

"That bitch, I hate her," he cried, knocking the contents of his desk to the floor in a rage.

"I know exactly how you feel," Ron said, sadly dropping to Harry's bed. "I can't believe she's done it again. She must have slipped Dumbledore something when she was visiting him."

"I just don't get how everyone can still be so blind," Harry cried in dismay as he joined Ron on his bed. "How can they not see all the evidence pointing to her? She was here the night my father died, and now she was at the Ministry the day Dumbledore died. What more proof do the Order need?"

"I don't know, but I don't think we can rely on them for help," Ron said. "We're going to have to do this alone."

"And we will," Harry vowed, suddenly jumping up and striding over to his desk. Picking up some parchment and a quill from the floor he sat down and began to write.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked, getting up and peering over Harry's shoulder.

"Writing to Hermione," Harry replied. "Or at least writing the first draft. We need to get our plan into motion as soon as possible. She's killed someone else I love, and it's time she suffered for it."

Nodding his agreement, Ron found a quill and some parchment of his own and started to scribble down a few words. They'd already decided it would be better if they both wrote some of the letter so Hermione could see they were both involved in the apology. What they were hoping she wouldn't realise was that the letters were a trap, and the apology wasn't in the slightest bit genuine.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

Draco entered his bedroom to find Hermione standing at the window staring out over the manor gardens. His girlfriend was so lost in her own thoughts that she failed to even hear him enter the room. Frowning at the fact Hermione hadn't even noticed him, Draco made his way over to his girlfriend and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly.

"Sorry," he muttered, dropping a kiss to her shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright, I was just lost in my thoughts," Hermione replied, her attention once again returning to the gorgeous view outside the bedroom window.

"Are you brooding again?" Draco questioned.

"I'm not brooding, I'm thinking," Hermione corrected.

"About Potter and Weasley." Draco correctly guessed.

Hermione had been brooding over Harry and Ron for the best part of a week. After their successful plan to eliminate Dumbledore they'd been braced for an attack of some sort from the former Gryffindor pair, but none came. The pair had attended Dumbledore's funeral a few days earlier with the rest of the Order, but that was the only time they'd been heard of. Hermione had been convinced they would try to point the finger of suspicion in her direction, and she didn't know what to make of their silence. The Harry and Ron she knew never would have just given up their vendetta against her.

"They're up to something," Hermione muttered. "I just know it."

"Maybe they're not," Draco said gently. "I spoke to Blaise this morning, and he said the pair were at the open quidditch try-outs yesterday. According to Blaise, they seemed upset by Dumbledore's death but not angry."

"They're trying out for a quidditch team?" Hermione asked incredulously. In the light of everything that had happened, she thought the pair would have had more important things to worry about than quidditch.

"Perhaps they're just moving on with their lives," Draco suggested. "Isn't this what you wanted? If Potter and Weasley aren't going to cause trouble, we can forget about them and concentrate on us. We still have a holiday to take before we look to the future and decide what to do with our lives."

"I guess you're right," Hermione said, turning around so she was facing her boyfriend. "I just didn't think they would give up so easily."

"Let's just be grateful they're useless," Draco smirked. "Now why don't we go and decide where to go on our break. I asked father about the properties we own, and he found me a list of the most private ones."

"Come on, let's go and find a private beach where we can be naked the entire time," Hermione laughed, taking hold of Draco's hand and leading him from the bedroom.

Draco took Hermione to the library, where he and Lucius had spent the last half hour laying out a selection of the Malfoy properties they could visit. Each place had a few pictures of the property and the surrounding area. Lucius had even been kind enough to provide a few notes on each property so they would know what to expect.

Settling down at the table, Hermione and Draco set about finding the perfect place for them to visit. Within ten minutes they had it narrowed down to three choices. As they were discussing the three properties, a house elf popped into the room holding an envelope.

"Miss Hermione has post," the elf squeaked.

"Take it upstairs and leave it on Draco's desk please, Honey," Hermione said, smiling at the elf. She still wasn't used to elves popping up without warning, but she quite liked the little creatures and always made sure she was polite to them.

"Are you not interested in the letter?" Draco asked as the elf disappeared.

"It'll only be from my parents, and I'm planning on visiting them before we go away," Hermione replied with a shrug. "I can read it later, but right now we have a choice to make. Spain, Sardinia or Greece?"

Draco voiced his preference for Sardinia as the conversation over where to go continued. By the time they'd settled on Sardinia fifteen minutes later, Hermione had totally forgotten about the letter waiting for her on Draco's desk. In fact the letter slipped both Hermione and Draco's minds completely as they arranged to go off on holiday.

When the couple left the manor two days later the letter still sat unopened on Draco's desk. Since Hermione hadn't even looked at the letter, she had no idea it wasn't from her parents as she'd originally thought. If she'd looked she would have seen the letter was from Harry and Ron, and maybe if she'd looked she wouldn't have left the country without replying.

 _ **G.O.V.**_

In the midst of the Scottish countryside the door to a lonely cottage suddenly opened and a man staggered out into the fresh air. The man took a handful of steps down the small pathway before falling to his knees in exhaustion. It had taken him days to break out of the small cottage, and he didn't know how long it would take him to escape completely and get to safety.

The man had been imprisoned in the small cottage for nearly eighteen years, and he'd genuinely given up hope of ever escaping. However, a week ago something had changed and he'd felt the strong wards that kept him a prisoner and bound his magic drop. After eighteen years of having his magic bound, his magic didn't automatically flow through his veins as it once had. He could still feel his magic inside him, but he was far too weak to access much of it. It had taken all of his strength just to break out of the cottage, now he had to figure out a way to get away from the cottage in case whatever caused the wards to drop was only a blip.

Pulling himself to his feet, the man forced himself to the bottom of the small garden and outside of the property lines. Stopping to catch his breath, he looked around and cursed quietly when he recognised the landscape of the Scottish highlands. Unless he was very much mistaken, he was within five miles of Hogwarts.

"Blood Dumbledore," the man muttered as he began to slowly trudge down the deserted road. "When I get my hands on him, I'll kill the old fool."

Thoughts of killing Dumbledore was one of the two things that had gotten him through the long years of captivity. The other thing was his daughter, Athena. Focusing on his daughter and being reunited with her, he slowly made his way away from his prison. Soon he'd be free, soon he'd be reunited with Athena, and soon Dumbledore and his Order wouldn't know what had hit them. Lord Voldemort was about to return, and heaven help anyone who stood in his way.

 **The End.**

* * *

 **A/N – I'm sure it's very obvious from this last chapter, but there will be a sequel to Goddess of Vengeance. I was halfway through writing this story when I decided on a sequel, which is why I focused this story on Hermione's vengeance and have left other elements like Voldemort's return and** **dealing with** **Harry and Ron for the sequel.** **I'm working on the sequel, and I'm hoping it will be ready to publish early next year.**

 **But for now, I want to thank people for reading and reviewing, Goddess of Vengeance. I'm always so grateful, and so amazed, by the amount of support I receive when I publish stories. Thank you again, and I'll be back in a couple of weeks with my new dark Hermione story – Wicked Game.**


	51. SEQUEL

**The sequel to Goddess of Vengeance has now been posted, it is an M rated story called Goddess of Victory.**


End file.
